High Hopes For Sale: Century’s Former Helicopter Biz Building

February 13, 2011

The Town of Century’s former Helicopter Technology building is now officially back on the real estate market with an $850,000 asking price.

The town purchased the industrial building at public auction  for less than $1 out of pocket back in August, 2009,  following the town’s foreclosure judgment against the now defunct Helicopter Technology.

After attempting to lease or sell the building independently for over year, Century has now listed the building on the open real estate market with DeeDee Ritchie of the commercial real estate firm NAI Halford. The real estate company will receive a 6-percent fee for the sale or lease of the building.

“Immaculate 40,000 sf office/warehouse building. Enterprise & free trade zone. All under climate control. Fully sprinkled. 8 HVAC units, 10 restrooms, 2 loading docks and Three Phase Power. PRICED TO MOVE,” the real estate listing states.

Century’s Future For Sale

Century’s mayor has high hopes for the future growth of his town. And he has about 40,000 square feet of space that would be just perfect for a company looking to locate and grow on the Gulf Coast.

“It has a lot of office space up front,” he said as he showed the empty Helicopter Technology Building in the town’s industrial park. “It has a little kitchen here with a microwave.” He knows the real estate sales pitch on the building the town repurchased for less than $1 at foreclosure auction one year ago.

Standing on the huge plant floor, McCall does not see just empty space and an odd arrangement of old couches and a grandfather clock moved from the office space. He sees the potential for a company to thrive — and the key to Century’s growth.

“It’s ready to go,” McCall said of the building. “Fairly heavy duty electrical wiring. Air conditioning. Plenty of room. It has great potential.”

The biggest potential of the building, according to the mayor, is the fact that it’s move-in ready. He said that would allow a company to become operational quickly, rather than waiting for permits and construction of a new facility.

“Things are looking up in Century,” he said. “We are ready for a company to become part of the excitement.”

To view the real estate listing for the building, click here.

Pictured top: Century Mayor Freddie McCall on the empty plant floor in the old Helicopter Technology Building in the Century Industrial Park. Pictured inset: McCall believes the building could be key to the grown of Century. Pictured below: The building, repurchased by the town a year ago at a foreclosure auction, sits empty. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

7 Responses to “High Hopes For Sale: Century’s Former Helicopter Biz Building”

  1. Century girl on February 15th, 2011 2:06 am

    Is Century’s tax Free Trade Zone (I think that’s the term) still in effect? That’s an awesome selling, or leasing point if it is!

  2. Scott Lowery on February 14th, 2011 11:27 pm

    It would make a nice bowling alley or skating ring. Maybe Wal-Mart could buy it and turn it into one of their distribution centers, or better yeat another store and employee lot’s of people. Heck at $850,000 Wal-Mart could write that off as a tax deduction.

  3. Observer on February 14th, 2011 6:24 pm

    Nice building, but business is all about “location, location, location.” With a very limited qualified workforce nearby it will be a difficult sell to a quality business. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

  4. nudo on February 13th, 2011 1:55 pm

    The only thing missing in the description of the building is the phrase “state of the art”. That always seems to sell people on anything.

  5. wondering on February 13th, 2011 12:12 pm

    for real if it was public auction how come the public had no knowledge of this someone may have bid more than a $1…….

  6. Century girl on February 13th, 2011 11:48 am

    Hopefully the town won’t “finance” it for the next potential buyer or lease it to someone without a background check, again!

  7. bill on February 13th, 2011 9:59 am

    i would have bid $10.00 if it was up for bid lol

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News