Dozens of buyers are bidding online this week on a wide assortment of items remaining in the long-shuttered ArcelorMittal steel mill in the next phase of that facility’s planned redevelopment for other potential uses.
A San Diego-based auction company, Heritage Global Partners, is conducting the sale for IPS Steel of Michigan, which bought the 873-acre site late last year. The event began with guided visits on Tuesday, and online bidding continues into Thursday.
“It’s going good. We’ve had a great turnout. We have over 100 registered bidders,” HGP director of auction services Alex Dove said by phone Wednesday.
Some 1,400 lots are in the online catalog of assets remaining after ArcelorMittal closed the plant in 2009 and removed much of its production equipment before the sale to IPS. They range from tools and lockers to cranes and industrial repair parts, and bidders accordingly range from other steel plants and manufacturing facilities to small businesses and do-it-yourself citizens stocking up their garages, Dove said.
“We’re not selling brand new equipment,” he said.
Some buildings on the site will be torn down because they have become too costly to heat and cool or otherwise maintain, IPS Steel project manager Kishan Sutariya said. But concrete pads and other infrastructure will remain, with the goal of constructing new buildings to house new businesses, Sutariya added.
“Our goal for this site is to have multiple businesses sharing all the resources that it has to offer,” Sutariya said in a statement issued by State Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, who represents the area.
Rezin credited Marci Duro, executive director and CEO of the Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development, for efforts to find a buyer for the property in hopes of recovering some of the jobs and tax revenue lost when the plant closed.
“I am thankful for her hard work and look forward to what the site will become,” Rezin said.
The site is close to interstates and also offers access to both the Illinois River and a Norfolk Southern rail line that is in good condition even after not being used for several years, Rezin said.
“The rail track condition is great news for any current tenant or future manufacturer, transload, or warehouse storage company who is interested in the site,” Duro said. “We are looking forward to the completion of cleanup and ready for phase two.”
Source: Journal Star
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