Connersville is scrambling to keep a company interested in buying the former Visteon facility.
Only two weeks after Corbon Motors’ lease on the building expired, the city is getting prices and putting together a plan that could bring as many as 1,000 jobs to the plant, according to information presented Monday to the Board of Public Works and Safety.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. provided a lead to the city last week. A company official and a site consultant visited Thursday. The city is now looking at what it would cost to bring the building up to the company’s expectations.
Mayor Leonard Urban told the Connersville Board of Public Works and Safety the company CEO is expected to visit the building this week. Urban would not name the company.
On Monday, the Board of Works voted to pursue negotiations with the company.
“... (W)hen we showed the building there were leaks from the roof and the floor was wet so it didn’t show well,” he said. “I’m told that on the way back to Indianapolis, the vice president told the site consultant, ‘Maybe we can make this work.’ We received a call that evening that they were going to pursue it.”
The company wants the roof fixed. It does not need the old power plant and waste treatment plant. Those parts of the operation might be salvaged and sold, with the money to be used to help pay for roof repairs. Neal Metal Recycling of New Castle and Integrity Metal of Connersville both have submitted price quotes for removal.
The Board of Works did not agree to start salvage, which would not begin unless the company choses to locate in Fayette County.
Tim O’Rouke and Mark O. Pflum of HPH Associates looked at the roof on Sunday to give a professional opinion on its condition. Their report has not been received, Urban said.
The company wants 500,000 square feet of space initially and would gradually expand, he said. They’re willing to share the building with another company. The city has a prospect for more space.
“Hopefully, we’ll be selling the building in exchange for jobs,” said Jon Baker, city attorney. “The selling price is $4 million, but that can be abated over five years at 20 percent a year based on the job performance of the company and the capital investment they spend each year.”
The company has proposed to have 72 jobs in the facility that would put $2,059,200 into the economy in 2013. In 2014, they would increase to 110 jobs, putting $3,146,000 into the economy. By 2017, the company said it would have 309 jobs and put $8,837,400 into the economy. Within 10 years, there would be 1,000 jobs.
They will invest $6,046,000 in equipment in the building over five years, Urban said.
If they do that, they will get the building for $1, Urban said. The company would ask for a property tax abatement to phase in taxes on the improvements.
“They want to own the building because they want to make big improvements,” he said. “As soon as they pick us, we will give them the name of the company wanting to lease space. They will honor the contract with SAPA to lease space.”
Baker said the board’s approval to pursue the company is just the beginning of negotiations with the company.
The company had seemed ready to located in a northern Indiana county but that did not work out, he said. The other location being strongly considered is a “southern state.”
The IEDC will offer training grants, maybe some moving expenses and tax credits.
“When we got into this, we were number four but now we’re number two,” Urban said.
Copyright © 2024 The Connersville News-Examiner