A previously unnamed business looking to locate in the former Maxxim Medical building off Yorkville Park Square has made itself known.
Boomer Brown, sales director for Apex Ammunition, confirmed to The Dispatch on Friday the New Hope-based shotgun shell manufacturer was negotiating with Columbus and Lowndes County to purchase the building.
The city and county jointly own the building, which sits on 7.8 acres northeast of Valmet and adjacent to the old city industrial park. It includes factory space, three warehouses and a truck well, according to county tax records. The total appraised value is $580,460.
“We have not closed on it yet. We’re still in negotiations,” Brown said. “In terms of that site, we want to be in Lowndes County. This is where the company originated. … The first shield was built right here. All our employees are from Lowndes County, and we want to keep it that way. So we’ve had our eyes on Lowndes County locations for a while now.”
Mayor Keith Gaskin spoke at a Wednesday press conference about the ongoing deal but did not identify the company. When contacted by The Dispatch on Friday following Brown’s interview, Gaskin also confirmed Apex was the interested company.
Jared Lewis, Jason Lonsberry and Nick Charney founded Apex in 2017. It currently operates in a smaller facility on Phillips Hill Road in New Hope. Two of Apex’s largest clients, Brown said, are Mack’s Prairie Wing in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and Rogers Sporting Goods in Kansas City.
Brown told The Dispatch the company chose the site because of its size, proximity to the highway and some of the aspects of the building itself, such as the loading docks they will need, which are already there.
If the deal closes before the end of the year, Brown said the company could complete the first of four expansion phases within 10 months, which will consist of a full renovation of a 38,000-square-foot building on the 7.8-acre property. Brown said the roof will need to be replaced, the interior will have to be redone and it will also include the installation of equipment for the production of shotgun shells.
“It’s going to need a big facelift,” Brown said. “But it’s got a lot of potential.”
Gaskin said the city and county attorneys, Jeff Turnage and Tim Hudson, are working with the company to secure a deal as quickly as possible.
Some of the challenges both entities discussed with The Dispatch on Wednesday are relocating the county coroner’s office and other operations at the site, as well as considerable volumes of equipment and records being stored there. The property has been publicly owned since 2008.
“I was trying to move as quickly as I could because they (Apex) needed the space as quickly as they could get it,” Gaskin said. “When something like this happens, sometimes it can cause a trickle effect where there may be others that will see that this is happening and say, ‘Well, let’s look in Columbus and see what other areas that they have.’ So it’s just a win-win.”
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