"It's like they say: location, location, location. It has two things against it: It's a far location, and it's a unique building. The location is probably what's worse," said New York-based real estate broker and author Brendon DeSimone.
Local real estate adviser Kitchen agreed: "It takes a special buyer that is willing to go to that location. It's a little bit too remote, as it's just outside Columbus. It's pretty far out for a Columbus company to think of moving there." If the building were closer to town, Guagenti thinks he would have sold it by now.
That has meant rethinking how the building could be used. To lure a buyer, Guagenti has explored marketing it as ripe for being repurposed as an educational facility, nursing home, or call center—though he also thinks it would do just fine remaining an office building. Experts agree it might fare best as a hotel or convention center, using the building's aesthetic to attract tourists. Although the area has a population of only about 47,000, Rochon said tour groups do occasionally make pit stops at the basket.
As for the fundamental basket-ness of it, it's not clear how much can be done. Refacing the building isn't much of an option, Guagenti said, because much like a basket, it's narrower on the bottom and wider on top, which would look strange even without the woven exterior.
"But you could take the handles off," he reasoned. "I'm sure a good architect could come up with some paint scheme to make it look not like a basket."
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.