An Ohio-based business has purchased the former BorgWarner plant in Muncie for $500,000, and received a demolition permit to tear down a most of the 1.1 million sq. ft. vacant industrial property.
The Star Press reports that Jim Wallace Co. purchased the factory complex for $500,000. It had been vacant since 2009.
The previous owner, who had hoped to redevelop the building, died in 2017.
Jim Wallace told The StarPress that he buys industrial buildings, although this is his first in Indiana.
When a newspaper reporter asked why he purchased the building, Wallace reportedly laughed and replied: “I don’t even know. My wife asked me the same thing.”
Wallace said he plans to leave intact as much as 200,000 sq. ft. that is in good condition, with plans to try to lease it. He said he plans to clean up the property and leave it looking better than it does now.
The plant had been used to manufacture auto transmissions for most of the 20th century. The property has 125 acres of land.
