The asking price then was $900,000, according to the BizBuySell web site.
The property sold for $800,000, from SHD Enterprises Inc. to Horn Ohio Properties, a limited liability company registered by Bethany Horn, of New Carlisle, records show. County records show Monday as the date of the transaction.
A building at 9 Clay St., behind the Trolley Stop, was part of the sale price.
Selling the Trolley Stop was not an easy decision, the former owner told the Dayton Daily News last year.
“I’m the only owner left,” Robin Sassenberg told this newspaper last August. “I have cancer. I’m on chemo. My husband died. I have heart problems. And I don’t have anybody to hand this off to.”
The Sassenbergs purchased the Trolley Stop in the mid-1990s. Chris originally planned to run the tavern but due to financial concerns he returned to the medical field and Robin began operating the business.
The bar was a firm part of good times and challenging times in Dayton lore. In the August 2019 mass shootings in the Oregon District, Trolley Stop patrons recalled how employees and customers on that Saturday night locked the door to the bar after hearing gunfire reverberate on Fifth Street.
An experienced entrepreneur, Horn over the years has been involved with the Cheeky Meat Pies bakery-restaurant in Dayton, a sports bar in Troy and a veterinary business in Tipp City.
“We’re basically keeping it as is, as far as the Trolley Stop and things like that,” Horn said in an interview. She hopes to pursue renovations on the main tavern space, but first she wants to take the measure of the business.
“We’ve got to see where the business goes,” Horn said, adding: “It seemed like a really good opportunity. It’s a great location.”
A renovated space on the second floor of the Clay Street property may be rented out, she said. She also hopes to further renovate some of the first floor.
While Horn owns the real estate, a different company will run the actual tavern business, Horn said. P.J. Falter — of Dayton Sportical fame — has a long history with the Trolley Stop, and he hopes to keep it “traditional,” she said.
Falter and his team will run the dining and beverage side of the business. Horn said she will collaborate with them.
“It basically worked out for that to be the best way,” Horn said.
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