Needs for more office and storage space led to a local egg producer purchasing property on the far west side of Seymour.
Rose Acre Farms spent $1.25 million to buy the 5.88-acre site at 1541 W. Tipton St.
Tony Wesner, chief operating officer of Rose Acre Farms, said the purchase was made because the company had outgrown its office space at its headquarters on State Road 258 between Seymour and Freetown.
“Just over the years, we’ve outgrown that,” he said. “We’re looking at taking some pressure off that.”
Also, the company has rented storage space in Freeman Field for several years, so purchasing this property will be a cost savings of a few thousand dollars per month, Wesner said.
“The people we’ve done business with in Freeman Field have been fantastic,” he said. “But we’re like everybody else, trying to cut costs.”
The real estate sales disclosure form for the West Tipton Street property was signed Nov. 19. Rose Acre Farms purchased the building from Centra Credit Union.
The site contains a few pieces of property within 200 yards of each other. The main building most recently was used for retail and warehouse purposes. The front part of the building, which used to house Al’s Heartbeat Cafe and Miss Luck E’s restaurants, covers 4,320 square feet. It was constructed in 1995.
Wesner said that area will be remodeled to include office space, and architects and contractors are evaluating that part of the building.
The remainder of the building, which is 56,490 square feet, has warehouse space with loading docks. That was added in 2000.
Rose Acre Farms will use that space to store egg cartons and cases and packaging material for the company’s liquid and processed egg products, Wesner said.
The property, which is along U.S. 50, became available at a good time because Rose Acre Farms had been looking for office and storage space with better access to Interstate 65, Wesner said.
The company hopes to use the warehouse space soon and have office workers there by next spring or summer, but Wesner said he’s unsure how many people will work there.
Rose Acre Farms started in 1939 as a small operation with 1,000 hens but now is America’s second-largest egg producer with 17 facilities in six states. The company employs about 1,900 people and has an estimated annual revenue of $200 million.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”On the Web” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
For information about Rose Acre Farms, visit goodegg.com.
[sc:pullout-text-end]