Since 2009, the Ceco Building Systems factory has sat mostly unused.
After six years under the ownership of Geraldine Davis and Grandview Investments, a local property investment company, Davis has decided to demolish the former metal building manufacturing plant that employed a peak of 175 over 60 years in business.
Davis told The Dispatch ownership failed to find a suitable tenant after the remnant of Ceco’s Columbus operations moved to its most recent location in the Crossing Shopping Center on Highway 45.
“We had it rented for several years to Ceco and then they moved and downsized,” Davis said. “It has not been rented, so we’re just going to tear it down because taxes are so high on it. So we’re going to try to sell with Coleman Realty (and Investments), and they’re going to sell (it in) lots.”
Grandview Investment pays an average of $75,000 in property taxes. Lowndes County Tax Assessor Greg Andrews told The Dispatch after demolition, the company would only pay about $20,000 in annual property taxes. The whole 30-acre lot has an appraised value of $3.1 million by Andrews’ office.
Jordan Womack, general contractor for the demolition, said work began on April 21 and should be wrapped up by late summer.
All structures on the property will be demolished and the debris moved off-site. The land will then be cleared for redevelopment.
“We do this kind of work all the time where we just tear down the building,” Womack said. “The owner gets a property she can sell and everybody’s happy.”
The 30-acre lot was first developed by Ceco Building Systems in the late 1940s and began operations shortly after.
In 2009, Ceco laid off a large portion of its workforce and shut down its metal building manufacturing plant, reducing its staff to the office and focusing on the operations side of the business, according to previous Dispatch reporting.
Grandview Investments bought the property in 2017 and held a lease with Ceco to maintain its front office, but in 2019, Ceco moved to its current location farther south on Highway 45.
The goal is to sell front-facing lots along Highway 45 North to restaurant developers for between $550,000 and $650,000, while leaving the interior lots and those along Chubby Drive on the north side open for other commercial or residential developers, Realtor David Coleman said. But the company is motivated to sell as quickly as possible.
“If somebody wants to come and get a good location for some apartments or townhomes, it would be an excellent piece of property for that,” Coleman said. “It might be a couple of lots on the front face and Highway 45. We’ll definitely get two good lots that will show it off, and we’ll get a couple of good restaurant takers.”
Coleman expects to start marketing the property for developers post-demolition.
Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins told The Dispatch in a written statement the property would be a good opportunity for commercial developers.
“I do think that the location’s biggest and best use would be for commercial use,” Higgins said. “It is a large site, roughly the same size as the Leigh Mall property. Demolition will result in a lower tax base on the parcel, until redeveloped.”
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