The redevelopment project has garnered financial support from both local and state agencies. The Newton City Council has pledged $700,000, and the Jasper County Economic Development Corp. is providing $200,000 for the project. The Iowa Department of Economic Development awarded $1.25 million from the Brownfield program and $690,000 from the Physical Infrastructure Assistance Program to be used by the city to improve the downtown site of the original manufacturing plant. The city also plans to seek nearly $1.5 million in community development grant funds from the state to assist in the project.

Whirlpool also sold six manufacturing facilities, including about 2.4 million sf in Newton, to two California firms. The former Maytag sites in Newton; Galesburg, IL; Herrin, IL; Searcy, AR.; and Ranson, WV; were purchased as a package by Downey, CA-based Industrial Realty Group (IRG). Meanwhile, Hackman Capital Partners (HCP) purchased a facility in Florence, SC.

Whirlpool plans to lease back the plants in Herrin and Searcy through April 2007, and in Newton through February 2008 to ensure proper cleaning and shutdown operations. In Newton, the company will also lease the adjacent manufacturing support facilities through February 2008. Whirlpool also says it will continue to operate one adjacent manufacturing support facility for up to five years to support the production of spare parts. Whirlpool previously announced that the Newton plant would close in the second half of this year.

In Galesburg and Ranson, IRG will work with community officials and business leaders to determine possible redevelopment plans. The company, which specializes in the redevelopment and adaptive reuse of corporate, industrial, government and military facilities, did not return calls at press time. One of the largest owners of industrial real estate in the country, IRG and a joint venture partner purchased a four-million-sf shuttered Ford Assembly Plant in Lorain, OH, last month.

In Florence, HCP plans to lease the entire 422,000-sf former Maytag manufacturing facility it purchased to a single tenant, says Matthew Schwab, the company's vice president of acquisitions. The Los Angeles-based firm specializes in real estate and capital asset acquisitions.

Schwab says that the building, which was constructed in 1988, has the heavy power, loading facilities, cranes and other features that would appeal to manufacturing tenants. However, its location close to the ports and along Interstate 95 means the facility would also attract distribution companies, he adds. "There is a lot of optionality with that building," Schwab says. "It could go in either direction."

HCP officials say the building should be ready for occupancy in the next 60 to 90 days. In February, the company will hold an auction to liquidate the equipment it purchased along with the property. As part of its due diligence, HCP officials have already had discussions with a number of prospective tenants. "We feel good about the property given the climate in South Carolina," Schwab says, adding that most of the vacancy in the area is in textile mills that date back to the 1940s.