This property was home to a large, obsolete manufacturing facility that had been an integral part of the city’s business district for 150 years. Numerous downtown businesses had grown up around it. The company was still in business and city leaders valued both the jobs and tax revenue it provided.
O’Connell Development Group worked with city officials and factory owners to relocate the facility to a smaller, more modern building within city limits. Working in association with the city’s nonprofit community development corporation, O’Connell engineered the purchase, environmental cleanup, and demolition of the “eyesore” that dominated the downtown skyline. The property was redeveloped into a 69,000-square-foot downtown supermarket providing new jobs, three times the real estate taxes, and an additional amenity to the entire community.
