CHICAGO—Hoist Liftruck Manufacturing Inc. has finalized its purchase of the East Chicago Enterprise Center in East Chicago, IN, and company officials say they plan to relocate and expand their corporate headquarters and production to the new facility by January 2016. The company will occupy about half of the 550,000 square foot property. The remaining space is already leased to other businesses.

In making this move, the Bedford Park, IL-based manufacturer of high-capacity liftrucks has taken the unusual step of relocating into a 110-year-old building that needs significant capital investment, and into a region that over the past few decades has seen much of its industry leave.

But Transwestern executive managing director Brad Migdal, who along with principal Jeffrey Locascio represented Hoist Liftruck in all aspects of the transaction, tells GlobeSt.com that the company considered many options during a search that lasted well over a year, but for many reasons this was the one that made the most sense.

“From a cost perspective, building a new facility would never have been an option,” he says. “You could not replicate this building. No way.” The building, located at 4407 Railroad Ave., was not on the market for sale, but the Transwestern team “dug it up,” and found it was once used to manufacture parts for military tanks, making it a perfect fit for the company. “This is a highly specialized industrial space, and there isn't a lot of product on the market designed for this type of heavy manufacturing.”

“Even after factoring in the planned upgrades, Hoist Liftruck was able to acquire the property well below its replacement cost,” Locascio adds, “presenting the company with an opportunity to expand its footprint while tapping into East Chicago's skilled labor force.”

“Indiana does a fantastic job of preparing its workforce,” says Migdal, “much better than Illinois.” The Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, the state's community college system, for example, has a campus in Northwest Indiana which places a special emphasis on manufacturing.

Migdal also secured financial incentives from the city of East Chicago, the Regional Development Authority and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. “This is a mid-sized, family-owned firm, and coming up with the capital needed to make this move would have been really difficult,” he says. But “the company is going to deliver a lot to the community,” including up to 500 new jobs and the public-private partnership will be essential to getting the rehab job done by winter.

Furthermore, he adds, “there is a massive savings in workers compensation and in the amount of property tax owed. It's night and day compared to the operating costs in Illinois. East Chicago has struggled with high unemployment in recent years, but state and local officials are listening to businesses and working to create strong partnerships so that companies like Hoist Liftruck can be successful.”