Reported in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Carlene Prost
The vacant Unilever plant in Pagedale, which for years turned out detergents and fabric softeners, is about to be recycled for a new batch of tenants.
Clark Properties bought the 27-acre site at 1400 North Pennsylvania Avenue, earlier this month from Unilever, a giant consumer-products company based in England and the Netherlands.
Unilever closed the 49-year-old plant last year as part of a plan to cut costs and boost profits. At the time, the plant employed 235 workers, who made Snuggle and Final Touch fabric softeners and Sunlight and Dove dish detergents.
Michael Clark, president of the development company, said one new tenant, Laidlaw Transit, will operate a bus hub on five acres. Clark Properties is building a bus-maintenance building and a landscaped lot for 100 or so buses. The hub will employ up to 113 workers.
The major recycling job will be the plant itself. The complex of 355,260 square feet has 20-foot ceilings in some areas, 53 loading docks and Terminal Rail Road service next door.
Clark said the plant needs minor roof and other repair work. For now, he said, his company plans to make repairs and lease space for about $2 a square foot.
"One would be hard-pressed to find a large, ready-to-use building near Lambert Field, with excellent access to major interstates, for that price," he said.
Clark said parts of the plant eventually could be renovated more extensively to accommodate other tenants. Or, he said, parts or even all of the plant could be razed for tenants that want new, build-to-suit space. "This tract of land has a lot of flexibility," he said.
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