By Karen Hall

Staff Writer

Lewisburg's spec building in the I-65 Commerce Park has at last found a buyer. The 63,000 square foot industrial building has stood empty since it was constructed in early 2009.

Continuing to refer to the buyers as "Project Now," Director of Economic Development Greg Lowe told members of the Industrial Development Board Monday a letter of intent to purchase the building for $1 million is being prepared.

"I recommend you accept the letter of intent," Lowe told IDB members.

"The council will have to ultimately approve it," said IDB Chairman Eddie Wiles. "I'm glad it's finally coming to a head."

"The purchase agreement will come next," added City Attorney Steve Broadway.

Lowe said the company, which supplies parts to the automobile industry, will be requesting a 20-year Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement on the real estate, and a 10-year PILOT on the machinery. Together, the PILOTs total over $5 million.

"This is kind of what we have to do to recruit new industry," said Wiles. He pointed out the building and land are not bringing in any money now, so the city is not losing money by granting a generous reduction in taxes.

Councilman Robin Minor agreed with Wiles.

"It's just been sitting there for four years," Minor said. "We're going to lose some money on it." City treasurer Donna Park confirmed the cost of the spec building was close to $1.4 million.

The IDB agreed to recess its meeting until noon Tuesday, March 12, so that members could see the letter of intent to purchase and vote to approve it, before passing in on to the city council which will hold its monthly meeting at 6 p.m. that day.

Now that the spec building is almost sold, it's time for the city to consider building another one, Lowe said. There is an alternative to the city putting up the money and doing all the work. To explain this, Lowe introduced Rick Meredith of The Hollingsworth Companies, whose slogan is, "The ultimate in fast and flexible industrial building solutions."

"We can have a building up in six months," Meredith said. This means the building is finished and ready for an industry to move into. Even building to suit a particular industry, Hollingsworth can still get the building done in six months.

You get added value with Hollingsworth, Meredith said, because they make a big effort to market their buildings once they are constructed.

"We're very flexible in what we do," he continued. The city can hire Hollingsworth to build on their site; or Hollingsworth can build, own and lease a building on the city's site; or the city can option a site and Hollingsworth can market it.

In reply to a question from IDB member Dave Kennedy, Meredith said using Hollingsworth couldn't be compared to hiring a general contractor.

"It's two different products," Meredith exclaimed.

Talking about the future for Lewisburg, Meredith said, "Your market is automotive and distribution. Auto manufacturers want their tier-one suppliers closer" and they could be looking at Lewisburg. The I-65 Commerce Park meets the requirement of proximity to an interstate.

"I would build a 64 or an 86," Meredith said, referring to the size of the building in square feet. "You can add 50 (thousand square feet) to either."

There's plenty of competition, Meredith said.

"Recently, Kentucky won a project because they gave the building for one dollar," he said. "That's what you're up against."

Competition will soon be close to Marshall County, since Lawrenceburg is about to start a spec building, Lowe said.

This is worth doing, according to County Mayor Joe Boyd Liggett, who said the current spec building has been a huge asset to get people into town. Imperial Foods looked at the spec building before deciding to construct their own.

"Hopefully we'll find ourselves in the position of not having a spec building," said Wiles. "That's good information; thank you for coming."

"Very impressive," agreed councilman Odie Whitehead Jr.