By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
LAMAR, Mo. — Lamar’s city administrator is interpreting an offering for the sale of the former O’Sullivan Industries building as a legal move designed to clear any liens on the property.
Wachovia Bank, which held the mortgage on the property, recently transferred the deed of trust to 1900 Gulf Partners LLC, an arm of Polymer-Wood Technologies, of Dallas, Texas. Polymer-Wood, a manufacturer of residential and commercial doors, has expressed interest in opening a new plant in the building. The amount paid to the bank for the property has not been disclosed.
Legal notices appearing in The Lamar Democrat state that the property will be offered for sale by trustee Fred W. Crouch, acting on behalf of 1900 Gulf Partners, at 1 p.m. Monday at the Barton County Courthouse.
“We’re hopeful this is positive movement and that whenever they get through these legalities, they’ll renovate the plant and start building some doors,” City Administrator Lynn Calton said in a recent telephone interview.
O’Sullivan Industries closed its plant in 2007, leaving more than 700 workers unemployed in the Lamar area. The plant produced ready-to-assemble furniture.
Later that year, Polymer-Wood Technologies expressed interest in using about half of the 1.2 million square feet of the closed plant’s space to manufacture doors. The company said it could hire as many as 475 workers at the proposed plant.
O’Sullivan had planned to sell its building to Structured Equity Advisors, an investment company from Newport Beach, Calif., for $4 million. The plan called for Structured Equity Advisors then to lease part of the building to Polymer-Wood Technologies for its operation.
But O’Sullivan terminated its agreement with the California company and filed a lawsuit against it seeking $1.5 million in earnest money.
More recently, the city of Lamar has been attempting to buy the property from Wachovia and act as an intermediary between the bank and 1900 Gulf Partners. When negotiations reached an impasse, the city sought condemnation proceedings in an effort to break the impasse. A condemnation hearing is scheduled for Sept. 2 in Barton County Circuit Court.
Calton said this week that condemnation proceedings may no longer be needed.
“If this all goes forward, there would be no need to proceed with condemnation,” he said.
Seed money
Under a 2007 tax increment financing plan, the city of Lamar is obligated to provide $1.5 million in seed money for a developer to begin renovation of the former O’Sullivan plant. The city also would cover up to $125,000 in legal fees of the developer.
