A St. Louis-based company that previously bought and imploded the former DTE Energy Co. plant in Marysville recently bought the former Solutia Inc. chemical plant downriver with plans to raze and redevelop it as industrial space.
Now with a purchase recorded with the city of Trenton in late June for an undisclosed price, Commercial Development Co. anticipates liquidating the Solutia plant's machinery and equipment through an affiliate, Industrial Asset Recovery Group, before working to bring new industrial uses to the 149-acre site just north of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge on West Jefferson Avenue.
"Our acquisition of this retired chemical plant is the first step to restoring the property to productive use," Adam Kovacs, vice president at Commercial Development Co., said in a press release. "Our team is well equipped to redevelop this property for its next stage of life, likely to be industrial operations."
An email was sent to Trenton Mayor Steven Rzeppa on Thursday morning seeking comment.
Crain's has asked Commercial Development Co. how precisely the property will be demolished, as well as what types of contamination are at the site and how extensive it is.
Eastman Chemical Co., based in Kingsport, Tenn., shuttered the Solutia plant — which produced polyvinyl butyral resins used in automotive laminated glass, inks and coatings, among other things — in January 2021, laying off 75 or more workers in the process. Eastman paid $4.8 billion for Solutia in 2012.
The Southgate News-Herald reported at the time of the closure that it was a result of "lower product demand and financial difficulties brought about due to the COVID-19 pandemic."
Commercial Development Co.'s website says its portfolio consists of some 85 million square feet across 300 sites, and that it focuses on "repositioning and redevelopment of underutilized, distressed or environmentally challenged properties" valued at $5 million to $500 million.
One of those properties was the DTE site on the St. Clair River.
Contrary to previously stated visions for the former "Mighty Marysville" property, that site no longer appears to be poised for the boutique hotel, condominiums, a water park, fine-dining restaurants and marina development that city officials have long been calling for to compete with places like northern neighborPort Huron.
"We did pursue a mixed-use hotel & restaurant development for the site," Randall Jostes, CEO of Commercial Development Co., told Crain's. "For four-plus years we marketed the city’s vision on a national basis supported by a land plan and renderings. Unfortunately, no developer could be found.”
The site sold following an auction in January to LBW Holdings LLC, an entity that Marysville property records say is based at the Dearborn address of Edward C. Levy Co., which provides a variety of services ranging from construction materials to road building.
Randall Fernandez, Marysville's city manager, said the city has not been informed of any plans the new owner may have for the property. A message was left with Edward C. Levy Co. Thursday morning seeking details on its plans for the site.
"The company has not reached out to us at all," Fernandez said. "The former company and the people who bid on the property knew that we rezoned the property PUD (planned-unit development), so anything that goes there must be approved by the mayor and city council. Nothing can be built there without their approval."
Fernandez said the property's sale to Edward C. Levy Co. caused him concern for the site's future.
"We have been pretty clear about the city's vision," Fernandez said in an email. "Also about a substantial tax base and jobs."
Commercial Development Co. purchased the 12-story, 300,000-square-foot former DTE Energy Co. plant and imploded it in November 2015.
There had been federal litigation between Commercial Development Co. and subcontractors over cleanup of the site in 2016, but that was resolved in 2019 shortly before the site was listed for sale for $2.5 million, the Port Huron Times Herald reported three years ago.
A previous 2017 listing was with Farmington Hills-based Friedman Real Estate, which had a $2.25 million price tag for both the former plant property, totaling about 30 acres, plus a 22-acre tank farm to the northwest of the plant on the other side of Gratiot Boulevard.
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