Neither the buyers nor the sellers will disclose the purchase price for the property, a 2.2 million square foot automotive complex on 167 acres. Chrysler abandoned the plant as part of its bankruptcy reorganization, and a liquidator bought it last year.
View full sizeThe DiGeronimo Cos. and Scannell Properties have a contract to buy the former Chrysler stamping plant in Twinsburg. The deal, involving 167 acres and 2.2 million square feet of buildings, is sure to be one of Northeast Ohio's most significant real estate transactions this year. The sale is set to close later this month.TWINSBURG, Ohio -- Developers plan to buy the former Chrysler stamping plant in Twinsburg, raising revival hopes for a city that lost an industrial titan.
The DiGeronimo Cos. and Scannell Properties have a contract to purchase the mammoth automotive complex and 167 acres, in a deal set to close this month.
The plant, abandoned during Chrysler's 2009 bankruptcy reorganization, comprises 2.2 million square feet of buildings where presses punched out car parts for decades.
Neither the buyers nor the sellers would disclose the purchase price.
In March 2010, Maynards Industries Ltd. and several partners bought the property and Chrysler's heavy stamping machinery for $45.5 million -- a price that reflected the value of equipment that Maynards, a liquidation company, has since sold.
Price-tag aside, the Twinsburg transaction is sure to be one of Northeast Ohio's most significant real estate deals this year.
Scannell, of Indianapolis, and DiGeronimo, based in Independence, plan to demolish part of the stamping complex, fill the rest of the space and construct several new buildings.
"Our hope for Twinsburg is a world-class industrial park that will bring jobs back to our city," Mayor Katherine Procop said. "It's a tremendous boost for us to be able to say that Chrysler closed its doors last year at the end of July and hopefully, at the end of June, we'll have prospects for new jobs in the near future."
Twinsburg was devastated when Chrysler decided to shutter the plant, which drove the suburb's growth starting in the 1950s. Now city officials are talking about tax breaks and other incentives to help Scannell and DiGeronimo bring in tenants and put up new buildings.
The buyers have been studying the property for months and firmed up their deal Tuesday.
"We have hard earnest money," said Tim Elam, development manager with Scannell. "We have a substantial amount of money hard, and we will be closing on the property at the end of June."
The complex occupies a prime industrial and distribution site, accessible by rail and just off Interstate 480. Elam said the buyers plan to demolish the more obsolete part of the stamping plant, roughly 1.5 million square feet with low ceilings, and look for manufacturers to fill the remaining space.
During the next five years, Scannell could build more than 2 million square feet of new distribution facilities, warehouses and manufacturing operations, based on tenant demand.
"I think the location will be strong enough that there will be a lot of activity quickly," said Terry Coyne, a Grubb & Ellis industrial broker who represented the buyers and who will market the property to tenants.
David Ford, a senior associate with the special properties group at CB Richard Ellis in Cleveland, said the real estate brokerage pitched the property to national and international buyers.
"This partnership is going to be a great addition to the city of Twinsburg in redeveloping the property," said Ford, who represented the seller.
Maynards has until late 2011 to clear out the equipment, which buyers are dismantling and removing from the building, said Taso Sofikitis, president of the industrial division at the liquidation company.
"Part of the deal was for us to sell it, we had to have a certain amount of time," he said of the plant. "We had various parties interested in it right from the get-go. We just waited for the right deal for us."