Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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| Lester reflects on redeveloping Tultex complex |
Martinsville developer George Lester is shown outside the former Tultex Corp. building on Franklin Street, which he bought and transformed into “The Clock Tower at Commonwealth Centre.” Lester had the clocktower added to the building when he turned it into office and warehouse space. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray) |
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
By MICKEY POWELL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Buying and redeveloping the former Tultex Corp. plant in Martinsville was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, according to local developer George Lester.
His company, The Lester Group, bought the former textile factory complex off Franklin Street and Commonwealth Boulevard in 2001, about a year after Tultex declared bankruptcy and went out of business.
The complex, which consists of four buildings comprising about 1.1 million square feet, now is called “The Clock Tower at Commonwealth Centre.” It is being used as office and warehouse space.
Lester said that after Tultex shut down, he did not want such a significant facility — in terms of its size as well as its impact on the area’s economic history — to fall into ruin, especially because it was next door to his office.
The oldest building in the complex is the one along Franklin, which features the clock tower. Built in the 1890s, the building first was a tobacco factory and then a cotton mill before becoming a knitting plant, Lester recalled.
If the walls could talk, “this building could tell a lot about this area’s history ... in the last 100 years,” he said.
In buying the complex, Lester also wanted to help the community attract new industry to replace the one that closed.
And, if the property was going to be redeveloped, “let’s do it right,” he said based on his thinking at the time.
Lester bought the property in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for $750,000, which was about 5.8 percent of its 1998 assessed tax value of nearly $13 million, records show.
He said that since then, his firm has spent more than $10 million to upgrade and redevelop the property, which is “far more than we planned to” spend.
The property has undergone a “substantial conversion” to make it suitable for offices and warehouse space, including the development of a parking lot across Franklin Street that led to the demolition of some houses, Lester said.
Had he realized that it would be spending so much money on the upgrades, his firm would “probably not” have bought the complex, he said.
But he is glad it did. Otherwise, the property might have fallen into ruin and become an eyesore and “potential liability” for the city, he reasoned.
Renovations to the original building in 2007 included the installation of the clock tower, including the clock, elevators and a stairwell.
The Clock Tower at Commonwealth Centre currently is about 20 percent occupied, Lester estimated.
The Lester Group has its offices there. Other tenants include Springs Industries, which operates a distribution center there; YoungWilliams, a call center handling child support enforcement matters; and Cobham (formerly Sparta Inc.), which Lester described as a government subcontractor.
State and local economic developers and industrial site brokers are helping The Lester Group try to find other tenants, and Lester said companies are making inquiries.
But the process of finding tenants has been “moving slowly,” probably due to the recession, he admitted. He noted there seems to be a surplus of office and warehouse space nationwide.
Asked whether he thinks the complex ever will be fully occupied again, he smiled and said, “I’m optimistic that all the (empty) space in Martinsville and Henry County eventually will be filled.”
Lester said his firm does not plan to sell the complex, but he did not rule out that idea “if a vibrant use comes along that employs thousands of people.”
The firm has offered the complex for use as a campus for the New College Institute as it evolves into a university setting. Lester indicated that offer is still on the table. However, he said he understands the institute intends to develop its campus among buildings uptown.
FAREWELL, OLD FRIEND
Because his office used to be in a building near Tultex, Lester felt a bond with the company.
“It was a good business neighbor for many years,” one that strived to help take care of its employees and the community, he said. For example, it was one of the area’s first companies to provide employee health insurance.
The 10th anniversary of its closing last week “was like the anniversary of the death of a good friend,” Lester said.
He recalled that when Tultex closed, “a lot of good friends endured a lot of pain and suffering” when they lost their jobs.
The closing of Tultex was “incomprehensible” at the time, he said.
Fluctuations in the economy always have resulted in periods of good times and bad times, Lester said. But when he was younger, he never envisioned a time when major local companies such as Tultex, Bassett-Walker and Pannill Knitting would not be around, he said.
The Martinsville area once was “the pride of Virginia, the shining star” of the state’s economy, said Lester.
“It’s unbelievable the way the world has changed” over a few decades, he sighed.
To stay profitable today, Lester said, manufacturers must trim expenses yet develop products that interest customers and sell them at prices consumers are willing to pay.
So that localities do not overly suffer when a company closes, it is better to have, for instance, 10 companies that each employ 100 people rather than one big company that employs 1,000, Lester said.
With economic developers’ focus along that line, “our community’s making progress,” he said. |
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