WILMINGTON — The Clinton County Port Authority Thursday signed a seven-month lease with LGSTX Services, Inc.
The lease will let, for $2 per square foot, a more than 50,000 square-foot facility at the Wilmington Air Park, which the port owns.
The vote approving the lease was unanimous, with the exceptions of Ed Kuehn and Larry Laake, who were absent.
LGSTX Services “specializes in providing material handling equipment and conveyor services, facility maintenance services, aviation ground support equipment services, and distribution services” according to the company’s website.
Executive Director Kevin Carver said LGSTX approached the port and said they had a business opportunity they wanted to pursue.
“We are still working closely with them to see what other modifications potentially need to be made to building K to assist them in this,” Carver said.
Carver added that building K is one of the buildings that was removed from the air park’s secure area where badges and escorts are needed.
Jim Osborne, LGSTX’s director of air park operations, said the building would be used for a small cargo operation, but he said he couldn’t say more than that.
Agency gives report
The port received a report from David Lotterer, senior associate with Jones Lang LaSalle, the real estate agency the port hired to secure tenants. Among other items, Lotterer asked the commissioners to consider prioritizing building B at the air park, which encompasses more than 100,000 square feet.
“(We) need to put a better foot forward,” Lotterer said. He said the goal is to make the building “serviceable” enough that prospects can picture their business inside.
“It changes the type of companies that you can attract” from lower-quality, lower-paying and less reliable to higher-quality ones. He said his list of recommended changes would cost about $330,000, but said the list and price could change.
Lotterer’s list didn’t include exterior work, he said, but mostly functional work and housekeeping on the building’s inside – repairs to loading docks, removing carpet, getting rid of cobwebs.
Member Brent Probasco asked what the return on investment would be, and Lotterer said fixes to the facility could attract more tenants, is more likely to secure a tenant and could even result in higher rent rates.
Such work would require bidding, according to a lawyer with Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, the port’s law firm.
The port also:
• Amended its budget to the one the finance committee prepared Monday, as previously reported. There were decreases to both revenue and expenses.
• Received a report on salvage from member Brian Smith. Smith said the port has salvaged 7,534 tons of metal to date and produced a net gain of more than $50,500.
• Met in executive session to discuss items related to personnel, conferences with an attorney and to consider information that isn’t a public record.
Reach Nathan Kraatz at 937-382-2574, ext. 2510 or on Twitter @NathanKraatz.
