MANSFIELD – Business expansions typically require significant time and effort, but for the owner of Legendary Looks, his plan to move and expand the repair and collision center into a long-vacant building on West Fourth Street was especially time-consuming.

More than three years after Joe Schramm of Ontario first looked at the former Bio 100 Technologies building at 1237 W. Fourth St., he finally owns the building and can relocate Legendary Looks, currently at 230 Park Ave. East.

“We decided this would be a wonderful building for us at that time,” Schramm said. “So, we came to the auction, but we brought in some construction guys first to review the property, and we found a huge problem.”

There was a 10,000-gallon methanol tank underground. And worse, it was out-of-compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“It was legally required to be removed, and soil testing needed done – this whole EPA evaluation thing,” Schramm said. “It was pretty scary. Obviously, that could bankrupt a little guy like me in five minutes.”

Word spread, and no one bought the building at the auction.

Months went by. It seemed unlikely anyone would buy it, but Schramm was still interested.

The West Fourth Street building’s 30,000 square-foot space, high ceilings and massive parking lot looked appealing, especially when compared to the only 8,000 square-foot space, low ceilings and three parking spots at the business’s Park Avenue location. The West Fourth Street building is also surrounded by 8.5 acres of land, allowing for further expansion.

“It gives us plenty of room for all the equipment and all the things we happen to get into,” Schramm said.

He plans to expand the mechanical and collision components of Legendary Looks and to offer repair services and rentals in the construction industry.

With a vision in mind, Schramm started out a long journey by asking to see the building’s interior. Ten months later, he was able to walk inside for the first time.

He saw the roof needed replaced and the inside needed remodeled for Legendary Looks, but he liked the space.

Still, the problem was the methanol tank.  

“We didn’t want to own the property, and have it removed because then all the liability is on me, and that is intensely dangerous,” Schramm said.

He proposed that the owners remove the tank before he bought the property. The answer was no.

Schramm looked further into tank removal. He was told the methanol tank was one of the most hazardous types of tanks.

In one phone call he was told, “Listen, if that has leaked, it’s all over. That property will probably never be inhabited.”

This bothered Schramm.

“We didn’t think this was ever going to happen honestly. We were starting to give up on it and look for other properties,” he said. “But when we did, we couldn’t find what we needed.”

Again, months went by. Though nervous, Schramm was still interested.  

“So, what we ended up settling on was that we would pay for the tank removal, and it would be in their name while the tank was removed,” he said.

The Legendary Looks owner worked with a lawyer to draw up a plan where he agreed to pay the initial price of tank removal and the owners at that time would pay “no matter what it took above and beyond that.” The owners paid out of pocket as the tank was removed, while Schramm put the funds in escrow, where both parties had to sign off before it was released.

“If that had gone badly and there was soil contamination, I’m not sure they would not have done it,” Schramm said. “That was a concern, so we did it as safely as we could.”

Over the course of several months, the tanks were removed, and the soil was tested. The EPA ultimately gave the all-clear with a no-further action letter.

“It was a little tricky for me because I was paying for it, but I really wasn’t paying for it from their point of view … so I had a vague idea of what was happening at times,” Schramm said.

He estimated tank removal costs at $25,000, which he called “the best-case scenario.”

“Honestly, I was surprised … I really thought that that would just be so many more glitches that happened,” Schramm said.

He purchased the building for $400,000 in mid-April, taking ownership of the building and nearby carwash.

He hopes to relocate his business within an ambitious 70 days, by late summer. But before then, he plans to fill in the pits where the tanks were removed and remodel the lobby to include a customer lounge and several offices, among other clean-up efforts.

“I would like this to have somewhat of a dealership feel with better customer service,” he said.

Schramm opened Legendary Looks in 2003 at a friend’s mechanic shop in Ashland. He rented a small space from him for a year.

Realizing the business needed to expand, Schramm found a 2,800 square-foot space at 385 Park Ave. West. There he began doing custom work, which quickly grew.

This led to another move. This time to 230 Park Ave. East, where Legendary Looks continued custom work, but diversified.

“The 2008 recession, it hit me real hard. It almost put us under,” Schramm said. “I realized that we were in an industry that didn’t need to exist … I needed to diversify.”

Schramm’s goal at 230 Park Ave. East became to offer anything and everything customers might need.

“Now we have 10 technicians and three office guys, including myself, we have outgrown that,” he said.

The building at 1237 W. Fourth St. may have initially been built as a Ford dealership, according to Mansfield Economic Development Director Tim Bowersock. When it changed hands at one point, the space was used to make prefabricated car washes, which were sold and shipped elsewhere.

“I used to see them sitting out in this parking lot when I was younger, and I wondered what in the world are 10 car washes were doing sitting there,” Schramm said.

Most recently, the building was vacant for several years after being occupied by Bio 100 Technologies. It created a product used in the manufacturing of Styrofoam, to the best of Bowersock’s knowledge. The business, he recalled, received a state grant, but never saw great success.

Arlington Energy, which occupied the building directly beforehand, also didn’t last long, according to Bowersock.