Frank D’Ostilio tried some “creative marketing” Friday to sell an old Derby factory — the Derby Cellular Products building on Roosevelt Drive.
It could be a hard sell, but by Monday, he’ll know if the tactic paid off.
D’Ostilio, a real estate agent for the Milford firm George Smith & Son, held a four-hour auction Friday at the site of Derby Cellular Products to help attract a serious buyer for the land and building on Route 34, across from the Dew Drop Inn.
The factory closed down last summer, amid rising manufacturing and employment costs and the tough economy.
It has sat mostly empty for a year.
“The auction is designed to create a sense of urgency,” D’Ostilio said Friday afternoon.
After having a few interested buyers look, but not place any offers, D’Ostilio said he decided to host the auction to get some bids.
Interested parties could present sealed offers for the 150,000 square-foot factory, and Monday D’Ostilio will read through the offers.
Before awarding a bid, D’Ostilio said he’ll allow counter offers to be made, with the last counter-offer coming from the highest bidder.
The asking price is $589,000 or the best reasonable offer.
“The price,” which is on par with some single-family home prices in Shelton, “is good,” D’Ostilio said.
Tough Sell?
D’Ostilio sent out 2,500 fliers for the auction. About 15 people said they would attend.
By 2 p.m. Friday, only a few interested parties had viewed the property, D’Ostilio said.
“The auction did generate several good inquiries that could result in an acceptable offer,” D’Ostilio said.
It could be a hard sell because often old factory buildings don’t accommodate modern manufacturing needs, said Thomas Harbinson, the owner of IDA International Inc., which is located on the property next to Derby Cellular Products.
“Purchasing a property with a structure on it with modern day manufacturing needs is a challenge,” Harbinson said. “You’re trying to make the equipment fit the building.”
IDA International has already purchased two parcels from Derby Cellular Products that were put on the market when the company decided to close last summer.
Derby Cellular had operated the factory sine 1980, making rubber gaskets for dishwashers and automobiles.
Last April, the company announced it had transferred its operations to two different companies outside of Connecticut.
“I’m just sad to see another manufacturing business leave the state,” Harbinson said Friday. “Operating in New England is difficult with the costs.”
The Building
Harbinson toured the building before the auction Friday, hoping to get a feel for the layout and capacity so he could pass the word along to others in the manufacturing business.
He said he’s not interested in buying the building himself.
The building has been standing since 1895. It’s been the site of various factories over the years, producing typewriters, metal, guns, ammunition and rubber products.
The land is zoned for heavy industrial use.
“That building has good bones,” Harbinson said. “They’ve maintained their property pretty well.”
The building is about 150,000 square feet, which at the asking price would cost about $4 per square foot.
It appears to be clean land too.
An environmental report conducted by the Cody Ehlers Group recently found that “despite its long term industrial use, environmental investigation … has not identified significant adverse environmental impacts to soil and ground water attributable to on-site activities.”
D’Ostilio is pitching the property as “ideal for storage or warehouse.”
It sits on about 2 acres, and there is a parking lot on Park Avenue for sale with it.