Cartograf’s unfinished packaging plant at Meadowville Technology Park. (Images courtesy Motleys)
A mystery bidder has made an eight-figure offer for an unfinished manufacturing plant in Meadowville Technology Park, though a judge will have to approve the sale before the property changes hands.
A court-ordered public auction was held Thursday for the nearly 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that the Mexican packaging company Cartograf left incomplete at the Chesterfield industrial park.
While the auction attracted 10 registered bidders both online and in person, only a single bid of $16.5 million was formally made for the factory at the event.
A Chesterfield Circuit Court judge is expected to consider whether to approve the sale at a hearing set for Dec. 14.
Bids are expected to continue to be accepted until next week’s court hearing, according to Mark Motley, CEO of Motleys Asset Disposition Group, the auction house handling the sale.
The auction followed a motion filed by Cartograf in Chesterfield Circuit Court last week seeking a temporary injunction to stop the court-ordered sale of the property. Since the $65 million project was announced in 2019, it has been tangled in lawsuits filed by the facility’s general contractor, Georgia-based Choate Construction Co., and Texas-based Comerica Bank, which financed the project.
In November, Chesterfield Circuit Court ordered a sale of the property to satisfy liens held by Choate and Comerica.
Choate sued Cartograf in 2020 seeking $15 million for its work on the first phase of construction at the facility. The lawsuit claimed Choate was nearly finished with 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.
The court ruled in October that the general contractor is able to enforce $7.9 million in mechanic’s liens on the property, in addition to court fees and interest, since September 2022.
Comerica sued Cartograf in federal court in Michigan in 2021 after Cartograf defaulted on a loan on the project. 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 playing out now in Chesterfield Circuit Court.
A hearing was held on Cartograf’s temporary injunction request Tuesday, though it’s unclear what came of the hearing. Online circuit court records described the results of the hearing as “order pending” as of late Thursday afternoon. A clerk for Judge Duncan Minton, who is presiding over the case, declined to comment on the hearing when reached by phone Thursday.
Cartograf’s incomplete facility occupies about 104 acres at Meadowville Technology Park.
Announced four years ago in conjunction with Chesterfield County and Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration, the Cartograf project was to be a folding and microcorrugated package printing plant that was anticipated to create 63 jobs. The facility was partially built and never opened.
The Motleys website lists the property’s appraised value as $18.9 million. Cartograf, in its attempted injunction, argued that the property is worth between $25.2 million and $29.4 million.
The county described the future facility as being planned to be 275,000 square feet in its 2019 announcement. Motleys’ listing for the property says the plant is around 284,000 square feet in size. The property is zoned general industrial (I-2).
The project was eligible for a $750,000 grant from the state’s Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund in addition to support for employee training programs through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program. A Virginia Economic Development Partnership spokeswoman said the Cartograf project ultimately didn’t receive any funding or benefits through those programs.
Other companies at Meadowville Technology Park include toy-maker Lego, which is building a $1 billion manufacturing plant. There’s also an Amazon distribution center and Niagara bottling plant.
Cartograf’s unfinished packaging plant at Meadowville Technology Park. (Images courtesy Motleys)
A mystery bidder has made an eight-figure offer for an unfinished manufacturing plant in Meadowville Technology Park, though a judge will have to approve the sale before the property changes hands.
A court-ordered public auction was held Thursday for the nearly 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that the Mexican packaging company Cartograf left incomplete at the Chesterfield industrial park.
While the auction attracted 10 registered bidders both online and in person, only a single bid of $16.5 million was formally made for the factory at the event.
A Chesterfield Circuit Court judge is expected to consider whether to approve the sale at a hearing set for Dec. 14.
Bids are expected to continue to be accepted until next week’s court hearing, according to Mark Motley, CEO of Motleys Asset Disposition Group, the auction house handling the sale.
The auction followed a motion filed by Cartograf in Chesterfield Circuit Court last week seeking a temporary injunction to stop the court-ordered sale of the property. Since the $65 million project was announced in 2019, it has been tangled in lawsuits filed by the facility’s general contractor, Georgia-based Choate Construction Co., and Texas-based Comerica Bank, which financed the project.
In November, Chesterfield Circuit Court ordered a sale of the property to satisfy liens held by Choate and Comerica.
Choate sued Cartograf in 2020 seeking $15 million for its work on the first phase of construction at the facility. The lawsuit claimed Choate was nearly finished with 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.
The court ruled in October that the general contractor is able to enforce $7.9 million in mechanic’s liens on the property, in addition to court fees and interest, since September 2022.
Comerica sued Cartograf in federal court in Michigan in 2021 after Cartograf defaulted on a loan on the project. 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 playing out now in Chesterfield Circuit Court.
A hearing was held on Cartograf’s temporary injunction request Tuesday, though it’s unclear what came of the hearing. Online circuit court records described the results of the hearing as “order pending” as of late Thursday afternoon. A clerk for Judge Duncan Minton, who is presiding over the case, declined to comment on the hearing when reached by phone Thursday.
Cartograf’s incomplete facility occupies about 104 acres at Meadowville Technology Park.
Announced four years ago in conjunction with Chesterfield County and Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration, the Cartograf project was to be a folding and microcorrugated package printing plant that was anticipated to create 63 jobs. The facility was partially built and never opened.
The Motleys website lists the property’s appraised value as $18.9 million. Cartograf, in its attempted injunction, argued that the property is worth between $25.2 million and $29.4 million.
The county described the future facility as being planned to be 275,000 square feet in its 2019 announcement. Motleys’ listing for the property says the plant is around 284,000 square feet in size. The property is zoned general industrial (I-2).
The project was eligible for a $750,000 grant from the state’s Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund in addition to support for employee training programs through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program. A Virginia Economic Development Partnership spokeswoman said the Cartograf project ultimately didn’t receive any funding or benefits through those programs.
Other companies at Meadowville Technology Park include toy-maker Lego, which is building a $1 billion manufacturing plant. There’s also an Amazon distribution center and Niagara bottling plant.