photo by: Niamh Coomey

City officials, executives at National Equipment and others break ceremonial ground Tuesday at Elm Terrace Shopping Center for the new site of National Equipment’s headquarters.

National Equipment broke ground on construction of their new headquarters in Elm Grove on Tuesday, signaling a long-discussed change in hands of the current iconic downtown space on the waterfront.

Once the move is complete, the space at the corner of 14th and Water streets where National Equipment stood will be knocked down to make way for a new hotel, entertainment and retail space.

The food service equipment company’s new 6,700-square-foot build will streamline shopping by condensing product onto one level. It will also introduce a test kitchen for prospective buyers to try out products before purchasing, the first of its kind in West Virginia.

Construction on the new headquarters is expected to be complete in summer of 2025. Until then, business will continue as usual at the current waterfront location, where the Wheeling-based company has been since the 1950s.

City Manager Robert Herron said the previous owner of the company was always willing to relocate to allow for development along the waterfront stretch, but remaining within Wheeling city limits was a big priority.

“The concern was always relocating and where to relocate,” Herron said.

When current company president Jade Waligura and vice president Mike Swann approached Herron with the proposed Elm Grove space, Herron said he was “probably more happy than they were.”

The city values the 75 years of operation and three generations of ownership that the company has seen in Wheeling, Herron said. National Equipment partnered with the Cedar One Group, who manage the Elm Terrace Shopping Center, to make the new build happen.

James Lash, an associate broker with the realty group, said owners of the shopping center have recently made “significant improvements” like repainting the building and refinishing the parking lot, which have garnered newfound interest from companies like National Equipment.

Waligura said “exciting” was the word of the day. The project has been a long time coming and talks with the city have been ongoing for well over a year.

The current headquarters offers about 5,800 square feet of retail space in addition to five floors of warehouse storage above it, Waligura said. Though the new build will require condensing operations, leadership believes the one-story layout will draw more customers.

The company’s Morgantown location has already seen the efficacy of a single-floor, more traditional retail space, Waligura said.

“We saw an increase in traffic flow in the store and a better shopping experience once (customers) made a decision to come to the store,” he said. “That’s when we started looking at possible retail locations within the city and we’re happy to partner with Elm Terrace on the project.”

Waligura also noted the pressures companies are facing with the rise in popularity of internet retail. Despite this, he said there has been a recent shift back toward in-person shopping and the company’s new layout will help foster this.

“We are seeing a return in our industry that individual customers and operators are making a move back to brick-and-mortar dealers,” he said. “We’re excited to have everything in one place and one facility.”