GREENVILLE, PA. New owners say they'll fill plant

Prospective tenants will begin touring the facility next week.
THE VINDICATOR
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- The new owners of the former Trinity North plant here think they will be able to quickly fill the 475,000-square-foot space with manufacturing companies.
"This is one of the cleanest properties we've ever purchased," said William Marsteller, a native of the Warren/Youngstown area now living in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"This one will turn around quickly, I think," he said.
Trinity manufactured railroad cars here but closed the plant and an adjacent 280,000-square-foot building in 2001.
Who's behind venture
Marsteller is president of Commerce Park of Greenville Inc., which now holds the title to the plant. He's partners in the venture with Atty. William Urban of Warren and Dean Gearhart of Portersville, Pa.
Marsteller said he and Gearhart formed Gearmar Inc. about a year ago, and it was Gearmar who negotiated the purchase of the Trinity plant.
The deal was held up as the company sought to have the property taxes on the plant reduced.
Mercer County granted a reassessment last year, cutting property taxes on the plant by $140,580, a reduction of 75 percent.
"Without that, we wouldn't have purchased the property," Marsteller said, noting the deal was finalized about a month ago.
The $650,000 purchase price includes cranes and other personal property in the plant, he said.
The facility has excellent rail service, Marsteller said, adding that prospective tenants are expected to begin touring the facility next week.
Cleanup starts Monday
A work crew will be in the plant starting Monday to do some cleanup and other work to get it ready for occupancy, he said.
In a worst-case scenario, Gearmar Properties would move its operations into the plant, hiring people to do a combination of manufacturing, wholesaling and warehousing, he said.
However, Marsteller said he doesn't think that will be necessary.
The plant should be able to quickly attract new manufacturers, he said.
This type of work isn't new for him or Gearmar, he said, noting he's been doing plant resurrections in the greater Youngstown area for a decade, helping to create about 350 jobs in the process.
Gearmar bought the former Cold Metal Products in Campbell, which was quickly filled by a new manufacturing operator, and has done the same with a WCI plant in Niles and other facilities in Youngstown.
"We've been really lucky in finding tenants that bring in jobs," Marsteller said.
This is the sixth plant the group has purchased, he said.