A deal to purchase the Briggs & Stratton Building at HyPoint Industrial Park is in the works, according to two sources, the Rolla Daily News has learned.

Elizabeth Bax, the executive director of the Rolla Regional Economic  Commission, confirmed the pending deal Friday after meeting with members of the board.

“We’re hoping the deal can be completed in 15 days,” Bax said Friday. “Certainly, we think it can be completed by Memorial Day,” she said, beaming with excitement.

Asked about the sale price of the building, Bax said she could not disclose the figure, at least not until the deal is completed.

“I can tell you this. It is a development company — a Midwestern company — that knows this area,” she said.

Asked whether it was a serious offer and whether there was a down payment, Bax said, “I think this is going to happen, and while I can’t tell you the amount of the down payment, I can say it is substantial.”

For the deal to be completed, Briggs & Stratton will exercise its option to buy the building from the Rolla Community Development Corporation (RCDC), a non-profit 501c3 formed 41 years ago to develop HyPoint Industrial Park.

In February, City Attorney John Butz said that buy-out figure was estimated to be between $800,000 to $1 million.

That buy-out figure includes revenue Briggs & Stratton paid during its lease of the building that eventually could apply to the purchase.

In 1995, Briggs & Stratton committed to the building, made several improvements – enlarged the building, later added the warehouse and stayed a tenant until last year, when it ceased production in September and then shut the plant entirely in December.

For 11 years – from 1996 to 2007 – Briggs & Stratton occupied the building and was a valued partner in the community.

At its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Briggs employed 972 at the 330,000-square-foot facility, with an annual output of 2.4 million engines.

To seal the deal to lure Briggs & Stratton, an agreement to buy the then-Schweitzer building for $2.25 million made partners out of the City of Rolla ($786,000), Rolla Municipal Utilities ($775,000) and Union Electric, now Ameren, ($700,000). Ameren’s contribution was to come as credits for utilities.

The pact called for RCDC to lease the building to B&S and, in time, the company would have the option to buy the building, which it now appears it will do before selling it to the new development company.

Jim Sowers, President of the RCDC, also confirmed the tentative sale Friday.
“Briggs is going to buy the building from RCDC and then sell it to this new development company,” Sowers said.

While Bax believes the RCDC-to-Briggs-to-developer sale can be completed by Memorial Day, Sowers said he’d be surprised if the deal can be completed before the holiday.

“Yes, it’s great news. I’d like for it to happen by then, but I’m thinking June. There’s a lot involved here,” Sowers said, also declining to mention a sale price.

“Get that from City Hall,” he said of the sale price.

Bax, RREC’s executive director, asked whether the potential tenant for the building will be a warehouser or manufacturer, because a hired workforce for each will vary greatly, and she said it would likely be the latter.

“I’m extremely optimistic about this,” Bax said. “We’d like to see it utilized for what’s best (more jobs) for the community.”

Bax said the building will need reconditioning to accommodate the new tenant.
“(Briggs) used some 12-foot (deep) pits in the floor for their operation. These will need to be redone (filled),” she said.

For her excitement at the imminent sale of the building, Bax called this deal “a whole different ballgame” than a previous attempt earlier this year that did not materialize.

“They saw the building and didn’t hesitate at all,” Bax said. “Bax also commended Mark Puzach, who has been managing the building for Briggs since the engine-manufacturing company moved out late last year.

“Mark has been extremely accommodating, always willing to be there when we needed to show the building.”

Bax said she also is working with two other companies that are interested in the Briggs Warehouse Building, separate deals from the main building.