T HE PAPER June 27, 2012
Proudly Serving Wabash County Since 1977
Living Essentials to expand operations into new industrial park
by Brent Swan On June 26, Bill K o n y h a , President/CEO of the E c o n o m i c Development Group of Wabash County, will present to the Wabash County P l a n n i n g Commission that Living Essentials will again expand its operations. The latest expansion, a two phased, 1,000,000 sq. ft. building located in the Wabash Business Complex along SR13,
will allow Living Essentials to increase its manufacturing lines. “With this expansion, Living Essentials will add at least 60 new jobs to the Wabash County workforce,” Bill K o n y h a , President/CEO of the E c o n o m i c Development Group of Wabash County said. “Their initial capital investment alone, in phase one of this project, will total $18 million dollars.”
The new facility is currently slated to house 150 jobs, 90 of which will come from the Bond Street location, which will become the distribution center. The first phase of the expansion will result in a 500,000 sq. ft. building, which will sit on 44 acres in the business complex. “The second phase of the project will allow Living Essentials to again expand by another 500,000 sq. ft.,”
Historic Honeywell Movie Studio Sold To Boston Buyer for $142,800
THE HISTORIC HONEYWELL MOVIE STUDIO was recently purchased by a Boston buyer at absolute auction for $142,800. (photo by J.D. Sparks) A Boston buyer bought the Historic Honeywell Movie Studio on June 21 at absolute action for $142,800. “The Boston buyer is the perfect fit for this building,” said Brandon Steffen, President of The Steffen Group, which sold the building. “Plans for the property are still evolving and are anticipated to be released in the
near future.” The auction took place in the Oak Room, which was the room used by Mark Honeywell for the production of his movies. A crowd of approximately 70 people were in attendance, along with a potential buyer from Boston bidding by phone. This translated into a quick and
aggressive bidding war between four parties. At the conclusion of the bidding, the Boston buyer prevailed and was declared the buyer of the property. For additional information of further auctions from The Steffen Group, visit www.steffengrp.com.
Konyha explained. “At the close of this project, Living Essentials will continue to utilize the locations they currently have on Bond St. and at the previous expansion site near the Wabash Co. REMC building, in addition to this newest expansion at the Wabash Business Complex. “The capital investment in the second phase of the project will be at least $12 million dollars,” Konyha continued. “That is not including inflation or equipment.” “The building will be located on the opposite side of the planned access road and will stretch from the west side of the 13-24 Drive In to Charley Creek,” Konyha said. “When finished, the amount of area covered by this building alone will be approximately 11.5 acres.” The site will be constructed to suit the needs of its future tenant, including 16inch water mains. “The sheer amount of water and other utility consumption Living Essentials requires is amazing,” Konyha explained. Konyha said that the layout of the property was designed with this expansion in mind. “Granted we didn’t know the exact details at the time, but we knew this was a possibility in the future,” Konyha said. “By purchasing this
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LIVING ESSENTIALS plan to expand their business and add a two-phased 1,000,000 sq. ft. building, which will allow Living Essentials to expand and to add at least 60 new jobs in Wabash County. (photo provided) business complex when we did, we have been able to not only allow Living Essentials to expand, but also allow Advanced Ag Resources the same opportunity.” Those two projects, according to Konyha, combine to account for 1,300,000 sq. ft. of space and 74 of the 242 acres within the business complex. “It’s good to see that within this little of a time frame, these projects are starting to come together,” Konyha said. “Without this business complex, those businesses would have looked elsewhere to obtain the room they needed.”
Konyha also said he anticipates setting a date for a public hearing to contemplate changes to the Phase I plat at the W a b a s h C o u n t y Planning Commission meeting held on June 26. Details from that meeting were not available in this week’s The Paper due to publ i s h i n g deadlines.
In Memoriam
Classifieds ......................26-30
Weekly Reports................13-15
Cherryl Adams, 65
Lois Hill, 94
D&E ................................18-19
Community News .. 17, 20, 21, 23
Glen Donaldson, 70
Mintie Kerr, 82
Vol. 35, No. 15 Richard Young, 76
PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326