Negotiations have been ongoing for several months. In April, Moraine City Council first considered a $20,000 loan to WCR to facilitate the move.
“I think it is a milestone,” Davis said Thursday. ” You can’t call it (WCR) an anchor, but you can call it a pioneer.”
City leaders hope that other companies will now be inspired to look at the plant more closely as a place to do business, leading possibly to future announcements.”It’s only going to lead to other tenants,” Davis said.
WCR officials could not be reached for comment after business hours. Davis said he does not expect the company to move to the plant for about four months while the facility continues to be readied.
Industrial Realty Group, based in the Los Angeles area, bought the plant in spring 2011, renaming it Progress Park. Since then, IRG has worked to prepare the plant’s 4.2 million square feet for new occupants.
While buildings have been left intact, tons of tooling and machinery within have been removed. That removal work was about three-quarters complete and could be finished this year, Dean Miller, vice president with Ohio Realty Advisors, who represents IRG, told the Dayton Daily News in late July.
Miller confirmed WCR’s signing Thursday and said WCR’s space is basically cleared out, but some work still remains. “It’s going to take some time to do the tenant improvements.”
He added: “The clear thing that it says is that we’re open for business, that it (Progress Park) can work for tenants.”
About the Author
