Cartograf’s unfinished packaging plant at Meadowville Technology Park. (Images courtesy Motleys)
A stalled-out $65 million economic development project in Chesterfield County is headed for the auction block, though a last-ditch legal filing may throw a wrench in the process.
A court-ordered public auction is slated this week to find a buyer for a nearly 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility left unfinished by Mexican packaging company Cartograf in Meadowville Technology Park.
The company, mired in legal disputes related to the project, last week filed a motion for a temporary injunction to halt the sale of its incomplete facility on 103 acres at 1600 Digital Drive. Whether that move would pump the brakes on the auction was unclear Monday afternoon.
Online and in-person bidding for the project is scheduled to take place this coming Thursday afternoon.
The auction is the latest twist for the Cartograf project, which was announced in 2019 in conjunction with the Ralph Northam administration and Chesterfield County.
The plan was to build a folding and micro-corrugated package printing plant at the Meadowville site and create 63 new jobs. Cartograf purchased the 104-acre site from the Chesterfield Economic Development Authority for $7.5 million in 2019 and work then began on the project.
About four years later, the property is home to a partially built facility that has never opened.
The project has since become the subject of lawsuits filed by the facility’s general contractor, Georgia-based Choate Construction Co., and Texas-based Comerica Bank, which financed the project.
Choate first sued Cartograf in 2020, seeking a $15 million payment for its work on the first phase of the factory. The lawsuit, which was refiled in Chesterfield Circuit Court in March of this year, claims Choate was nearing completion of that part of the project and fulfilling its side of the agreement when Cartograf failed to pay for the work.
In a response, Cartograf disputed that the general contractor fulfilled its agreed-upon duties in order to get paid.
Comerica sued Cartograf in federal court in Michigan in 2021, after Cartograf defaulted on a loan. A federal judge ruled in the bank’s favor, allowing Comerica to collect $9.7 million in principal in addition to interest and fees in a process that’s now playing out in Chesterfield Circuit Court.
A glimpse of the inside of the unfinished facility.
In November, Chesterfield Circuit Court ruled that a sale was in order to satisfy liens on the property held by Choate and Comerica.
The court determined the previous month that Choate is able to enforce $7.9 million in mechanic’s liens on the property, in addition to court fees and interest, since September 2022.
With the auction looming, Cartograf on Friday filed a motion for a temporary injunction to stop this week’s sale. In its filing, Cartograf argued the injunction was needed because appraisals of the facility “significantly undervalue the property” and that to proceed would be at odds with the judge’s order that initiated the sale and stated the project needed to be completed in a “commercially reasonable manner.”
Motleys Asset Disposition Group has been tapped to handle the sale. The auction house’s website lists the property’s appraised value as $18.9 million. Cartograf stated in its injunction motion that the property is worth between $25.2 million and $29.4 million.
“The public release of the older appraisals by Motley is not ‘commercially reasonable’ and likely ensures that any bids for the property will be significantly less – perhaps by millions – than the current (valuations),” the Cartograf filing read.
In a Monday filing, Choate disputed the reasoning behind Cartograf’s request, and argued the injunction shouldn’t be granted without Choate’s input.
“Choate materially opposes both the facts and law represented in the motion and intends to submit briefs to the court accordingly,” the filing read. “In the interim, however, a hearing should not occur … and the motion should not be granted if Choate is not afforded a reasonable opportunity to participate in the consideration of this matter.”
Cartograf’s incomplete facility occupies about 104 acres at Meadowville Technology Park.
Mark Motley, CEO of the auction house, said mid-afternoon Monday he was aware that Cartograf had filed a request for an injunction but as of that time hadn’t heard whether the judge had granted the injunction.
Chesterfield court records didn’t reflect the court’s decision on the sought injunction as of late afternoon Monday.
A sale of the property would be subject to court approval. Motley said the site, which is zoned general industrial (I-2), is ripe for a manufacturer or data center user to acquire it and take the facility over the finish line, and said the property has the infrastructure in place for the latter.
“I believe it’s a great piece of property,” Motley said.
Chesterfield’s 2019 announcement stated the facility was planned to be 275,000 square feet. Motley’s listing for the property describes the incomplete plant as being around 284,000 square feet.
The Cartograf project was eligible for a $750,000 grant from the state’s Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund as well as support for employee training programs through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program when it was first announced. A Virginia Economic Development Partnership spokeswoman said Monday that Cartograf ultimately didn’t receive any funding or benefits through those programs.
In addition to Cartograf’s unfinished factory, Meadowville Technology Park is also home to an upcoming $1 billion Lego manufacturing plant, as well as a Niagara bottling plant, Amazon distribution center and other users.
Cartograf’s unfinished packaging plant at Meadowville Technology Park. (Images courtesy Motleys)
A stalled-out $65 million economic development project in Chesterfield County is headed for the auction block, though a last-ditch legal filing may throw a wrench in the process.
A court-ordered public auction is slated this week to find a buyer for a nearly 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility left unfinished by Mexican packaging company Cartograf in Meadowville Technology Park.
The company, mired in legal disputes related to the project, last week filed a motion for a temporary injunction to halt the sale of its incomplete facility on 103 acres at 1600 Digital Drive. Whether that move would pump the brakes on the auction was unclear Monday afternoon.
Online and in-person bidding for the project is scheduled to take place this coming Thursday afternoon.
The auction is the latest twist for the Cartograf project, which was announced in 2019 in conjunction with the Ralph Northam administration and Chesterfield County.
The plan was to build a folding and micro-corrugated package printing plant at the Meadowville site and create 63 new jobs. Cartograf purchased the 104-acre site from the Chesterfield Economic Development Authority for $7.5 million in 2019 and work then began on the project.
About four years later, the property is home to a partially built facility that has never opened.
The project has since become the subject of lawsuits filed by the facility’s general contractor, Georgia-based Choate Construction Co., and Texas-based Comerica Bank, which financed the project.
Choate first sued Cartograf in 2020, seeking a $15 million payment for its work on the first phase of the factory. The lawsuit, which was refiled in Chesterfield Circuit Court in March of this year, claims Choate was nearing completion of that part of the project and fulfilling its side of the agreement when Cartograf failed to pay for the work.
In a response, Cartograf disputed that the general contractor fulfilled its agreed-upon duties in order to get paid.
Comerica sued Cartograf in federal court in Michigan in 2021, after Cartograf defaulted on a loan. A federal judge ruled in the bank’s favor, allowing Comerica to collect $9.7 million in principal in addition to interest and fees in a process that’s now playing out in Chesterfield Circuit Court.
A glimpse of the inside of the unfinished facility.
In November, Chesterfield Circuit Court ruled that a sale was in order to satisfy liens on the property held by Choate and Comerica.
The court determined the previous month that Choate is able to enforce $7.9 million in mechanic’s liens on the property, in addition to court fees and interest, since September 2022.
With the auction looming, Cartograf on Friday filed a motion for a temporary injunction to stop this week’s sale. In its filing, Cartograf argued the injunction was needed because appraisals of the facility “significantly undervalue the property” and that to proceed would be at odds with the judge’s order that initiated the sale and stated the project needed to be completed in a “commercially reasonable manner.”
Motleys Asset Disposition Group has been tapped to handle the sale. The auction house’s website lists the property’s appraised value as $18.9 million. Cartograf stated in its injunction motion that the property is worth between $25.2 million and $29.4 million.
“The public release of the older appraisals by Motley is not ‘commercially reasonable’ and likely ensures that any bids for the property will be significantly less – perhaps by millions – than the current (valuations),” the Cartograf filing read.
In a Monday filing, Choate disputed the reasoning behind Cartograf’s request, and argued the injunction shouldn’t be granted without Choate’s input.
“Choate materially opposes both the facts and law represented in the motion and intends to submit briefs to the court accordingly,” the filing read. “In the interim, however, a hearing should not occur … and the motion should not be granted if Choate is not afforded a reasonable opportunity to participate in the consideration of this matter.”
Cartograf’s incomplete facility occupies about 104 acres at Meadowville Technology Park.
Mark Motley, CEO of the auction house, said mid-afternoon Monday he was aware that Cartograf had filed a request for an injunction but as of that time hadn’t heard whether the judge had granted the injunction.
Chesterfield court records didn’t reflect the court’s decision on the sought injunction as of late afternoon Monday.
A sale of the property would be subject to court approval. Motley said the site, which is zoned general industrial (I-2), is ripe for a manufacturer or data center user to acquire it and take the facility over the finish line, and said the property has the infrastructure in place for the latter.
“I believe it’s a great piece of property,” Motley said.
Chesterfield’s 2019 announcement stated the facility was planned to be 275,000 square feet. Motley’s listing for the property describes the incomplete plant as being around 284,000 square feet.
The Cartograf project was eligible for a $750,000 grant from the state’s Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund as well as support for employee training programs through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program when it was first announced. A Virginia Economic Development Partnership spokeswoman said Monday that Cartograf ultimately didn’t receive any funding or benefits through those programs.
In addition to Cartograf’s unfinished factory, Meadowville Technology Park is also home to an upcoming $1 billion Lego manufacturing plant, as well as a Niagara bottling plant, Amazon distribution center and other users.
Technology Park? More like Future Landfill Park. Cardboard boxes, micro-plastic toy blocks, and plastic water bottles (who knew the Niagara ran this far south?). So much easier to fool the public by replacing “industrial” with “technology”.