Former Superior Essex plant in Chester to be renovated

Reger Holdings , is renovating another industrial building in Chester.

The West Seneca, N.Y.-based company has purchased the former Superior Essex plant on S.C. 9 about 15 miles from Interstate 77. Terms of the sale were not released.

Reger Holdings’ latest Chester project is a single-story, 235,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on 58 acres at 995 Old York Road. The plant was built in 1970. The company plans to renovate the property and offer it for lease or sale.

The facility has several of the features industrialist clients are looking for: a reinforced concrete floor; fully heated and air-conditioned; all of the building has an emergency sprinkler system, 10,000 square feet of office space; eight docks with 12-foot high doors, and two 12-foot by 14-foot drive-in doors. The site is served by the Norfolk Southern railroad.

Reger Holdings has 14 South Carolina industries properties. The company renovated the former U.S. Windows manufacturing facility in Chester and then leased it to Footprint, a company that specializes in making sustainable materials and packaging. Footprint is investing $15.4 million to outfit the facility and is expected to create 115 new jobs over the next five years.

Karlisa Parker, Chester County’s economic development director, said the former U.S. Windows plant was considered most often by prospects, but it was hard to see the building’s potential because of its “deplorable condition.” Reger Holdings took over the building and cleaned it, making it easier to market.

“It was gone within months of Reger finishing its work,” Parker said Tuesday.

The Superior Essex transaction was handled by Shaun Kirchin, vice president of Binswanger’s Columbia, office. Chris Skibinski of Avison Young represented the seller, Superior Essex.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Former Superior Essex plant in Chester to be renovated."