County buys former manufacturing facility
By MIKE CORN, Hays Daily News, 10/7/2010
PLAINVILLE -- As the new owner of the empty Schult Home manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Plainville, the Rooks County Commission is ready to transform the facility from an albatross to an asset.
Commissioners on Friday assumed ownership of the massive four-building, 143,440-square-foot facility. It plans to sell the facility to the "highest and best bid" offered, a move designed to fill the cavernous facility with other businesses and jobs.
And
there's interest in it, said Roger Hrabe, the Rooks County economic development
director. He declined to identify who is interested.
"It's been a terribly long process doing that," Hrabe said of Rooks County purchasing the facility.
The goal was to get the property out of the hands of CMH Manufacturing so Rooks County could do something with it to boost job growth.
CMH is the parent organization for Schult Homes, which closed the Plainville facility in January 2008.
At the time it closed, nearly 150 people were working there.
CMH had tried to sell the facility, but had a $1.5 million asking price and wouldn't talk to a competitor.
Anxious to get it off its hands, CMH offered the facility to the county for $250,000. The county paid the $44,000 in taxes accrued through Oct. 1, deducted from the purchase price.
The county plans to soon publish notices of intent to sell the property, after which it will set a date for sealed bids.
"While that's being done, we'll get the facility cleaned up, everything mowed," Hrabe said. "At some point, we'll probably have an auction of surplus equipment and stuff that's in there."
There's plenty left behind, including stacks of doors and shingles, a rack holding 5-gallon buckets of paint. Various plumbing supplies still sit on shelves.
The
office is much the same, with awards still hanging on the walls, as are photos
of the plant and milestones in its history. Files still sit on desks, as do
phones, keyboards and monitors. There's even a $50 check -- made out to Schult
-- in a box in the receptionist area.
Hrabe said there are four main buildings, the largest of which has had several additions made to it. The additions include space for offices and a cafeteria. The largest additions were made in the area where the homes were constructed, coming in from the south. Once they reached the northern-most section of the building, they worked their way to the west, as workers completed much of the process from catwalks.
"So far, we've had interest in every one of these buildings," Hrabe said.
But it won't be sold piece by piece, he said.
"Whoever is interested in it will have to buy the whole facility," Hrabe said.
That investor, however, will then be able to use all or just a portion of the facility, and sell the rest to someone else.
When the county looks to sell the facility, it will look at the price being offered, as well as the number of jobs that will be created.