The RACER Trust Friday completed the sale of the former GM Mansfield Ontario Stamping Plant in Ontario to the Brownfield Communities Development Company (BCDC), which has committed to bringing hundreds of new jobs to Ohio.

A sales agreement was announced in August, followed by a customary 120 day inspection period.

“We’re very pleased to announce the completion of this sale,” RACER Trustee Elliott P. Laws said.
“We’re particularly excited for the people of Ontario and Richland County, because of the new jobs and other economic benefits that we expect will be created by this project.

The community and its leaders, as well as federal and state officials, were a true partner in bringing this transaction o fruition, and we thank them for their efforts. To BCDC, we offer our congratulations and best wishes.”
The 2.5 million square foot former GM facility occupies 266 acres just west of Mansfield, Ohio, in Richland County.

The new owner, BCDC, is a joint venture of Adler Group Inc., a Miami, Fla. based firm with more than 50 years of leasing, property management, acquisitions, investment, development and construction experience, and Hilco Real Estate LLC, a strategic advisory and consulting services real estate firm based in Northbrook, Ill. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"We are taking an obsolete single tenant facility and turning it into a modern multitenant business generator,” said Michael M. Adler, CEO and Chairman of Adler Group.

"We are excited to start the next phase of the project and we are looking forward to working with the community."
“The City of Ontario and I look forward to a bright future as the plan for redevelopment of the former GM facility unfolds,” Ontario Mayor Larry Collins said. “It has been a pleasure working with the RACER Trust, the Adler Group and Hilco. The promise of hundreds of new jobs, and the additional indirect jobs new industry will help to create in the surrounding area, is great news that brings encouragement and hope to all of Richland County.”

“Hilco is proud to be a partner in this revitalization deal and we are certain that this redevelopment will enhance the opportunity to attract businesses that can compete in today’s global market place,” said Jeffery Hecktman, CEO of Hilco Trading LLC, the parent company of Hilco Real Estate LLC. The RACER Trust has sold more than 20 former GM properties, with proceeds in excess of $26 million, since it was established in March 2011.