YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Back in April, 21 News reported artists who housed their work in the former Ward Bakery building were ordered to leave the building and remove all their work by June because the building had been purchased by a new owner. 

We now know who that new owner is.

According to a press release, U-Haul Storage of Youngstown purchased the 101-year-old building July 22 in order to house up to 800 climate-controlled storage units.

U-Haul's Adaptive Reuse program will be implemented to refurbish the property, while preserving the building's exterior to maintain as much of its original character as possible.

This is the second historic Youngstown building purchased by U-Haul, with the company previously purchasing the former Isaly's Dairy Plant transforming it into U-Haul Moving & Storage of Youngstown.

"Our customers needed more self-storage options, so we are thrilled to provide another Adaptive Reuse property that can accommodate the growth we are seeing in northeast Ohio," said U-Haul Company of Akron President Alissa Nider.

According to the release, Nider plans to hire up to six team members to support the new store.

The change in ownership of the Ward Bakery building brought great shock to artists and tenants who were blindsided when they were told to leave by June 10.

Artists like Jason Van Hoose, who had been a tenant of the building since 1990 said he was concerned about being able to find another space to store his art since he had been struggling to find one even before the news broke.

You can read more about artists' reactions to the sale of the building and the order to leave in our related coverage below.

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