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Owner of former RG Steel files documents to demolish all property there
warren
BDM Warren Steel Operations, which was formed last year to purchase the former RG Steel mill out of bankruptcy for $17 million, has filed paperwork and permit applications detailing plans to demolish all of the property at the 1,200-acre facility.
Applications filed Thursday with Howland Township show plans to demolish seven buildings at the cold-mill site, which union leadership had expected to happen after an agreement between C.J. Betters Enterprises — a partner in BDM — and the bankruptcy court called for only the hot-mill part of facility in the southeast area to be temporarily preserved in an effort to find a buyer.
But after a year of failure to find an operator, the hot mill is slated for demolition, according to a time line for the project filed with Howland Township.
“For now, they’re just looking to tear down the cold mill in Howland. There’s seven buildings there,” said township Administrator Darlene St. George. “They also included a time line to demolish the hot mill, which everyone thought was going to be saved. It’s a two-year time line, and they’ve included taking down the whole facility.”
In May, a glimmer of hope remained for the facility after a unit of Hilco Global, a diversified private equity and real-estate acquisition company, bought the steelmaking assets of the mill. Under that agreement, Hilco was to engage in a three-month effort to market the facility before further action could be taken to capitalize on the property.
A copy of the time line submitted to the township shows that demolition on the hot-side portion of the facility is to start late next year.
Calls and emails to C.J. Betters Enterprises, Hilco Global and other BDM partners went unanswered Friday.
Although it appears unlikely given the scope of the demolition project, it remains unclear if a last-minute sale of the hot mill is still in the cards for the current owners, especially if a potential buyer were to come forward before the scheduled demolition is set to occur in 2014.
Demolitions are proceeding — as expected — on the north end of the mill near the main entrance. Those buildings include ones for galvanizing, shipping, electrical, portable annealing and storage.
Also included in the time line are plans to restore and redevelop the property, but details are vague and St. George couldn’t offer any explanation other than township rules, which call for the removal of cement slabs and foundations without a plan for redevelopment.
When the mill shut down in May 2012, about 1,000 steelworkers there lost jobs. St. George said the permit applications to demolish the seven buildings at the cold-mill site would likely be approved Friday.
Permit applications list Michigan-based MCM Management Corp. as the general contractor for the demo project, which is expected to be completed by March 2016, according to the documents.