New owner plans to retread former tire plant

By Carolyn Cole/Staff Writer
published Dec. 29, 2007

A new owner plans to breathe new life into the closed Dayton Tire Plant, one year after Bridgestone Firestone closed its doors, laying off 1,700 workers.

Big Industrial LLC bought the 2.5-million-square-foot plant and its surrounding 310-acre complex at SW 29th Street and Council Road last week, with plans to renovate and refurbish it into a business and industrial park, said Todd Mendon, Big Industrial managing director of marketing. While the national industrial property development company has rehabilitated other plants in Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Arizona, Texas and Florida, Mendon said the Oklahoma City Bridgestone Firestone plant is one of its largest projects.
“We are hopeful it doesn’t remain empty for long,” he said.

Big Industrial hired leasing broker Ben Schmidt, certified commercial investment member, to oversee the renovations and seek possible companies to lease space. Schmidt said workers are already power washing the outside of the plant, while Bridgestone Firestone workers remove the last pieces of the corporation’s property by the end of January.

“Our goal is to get things started as soon as possible,” he said.

The facility has several unique characteristics, which drew Big Industrial to the Dayton plant, Schmidt said, and he hopes will in turn bring in other companies.

PowerSmith Cogeneration Plant is embedded behind the Dayton plant’s security fences and can offer subsidized heating, cooling or process energy to tenants. PowerSmith sells electricity created in its natural gas-fired power plant to OG&E, which is required to buy the energy by federal law because the company helped keep the Dayton plant open as it created steam.

PowerSmith vice president Michael Smith said the same benefit that helped the Dayton plant could aid the new tenants.

“We are committed to working with Big Industrial to ensure those jobs return to our city,” he said. “At the same time, we are working with existing businesses in the area to help lower their energy costs in hopes that they can expand in the future.”
In addition to the power plant, Schmidt said the Dayton site offers easy access to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Interstate 40, Interstate 44 and Will Rogers World Airport.

“There really are a lot of positives built into the site,” he said.

While Schmidt would not disclose how much Big Industrial paid for the property, he said space is expected to lease for between $1.99 and $3.50 per square foot.

Spaces could range in size from as small as 25,000 square feet to the entire facility. Schmidt said as renovations begin, more docks will be added, and areas could be designed to fit the tenant’s needs. Additional facilities could also be built on the surrounding land, he said, to suit the tenant’s company.

Uses for the property could range from business office to heavy industrial, he said. Possible tenants range from local companies needing to expand, to regional and national companies considering Oklahoma, he said.

“We have been in discussion with several possible tenants,” Schmidt said.

History

After 37 years in operation, the Bridgestone Firestone tire plant closed its doors Dec. 23, 2006, laying off 1,639 of its own workers, not including the closure’s effect on surrounding contractors and companies depending on the plant for business.

The company estimated workers earned an average of $900 per week, not including $800 in health and retirement benefits, and the Oklahoma City plant’s payroll was $128 million annually.

In 2004, it was estimated the tire plant had an $800 million impact on Oklahoma’s economy.

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