RACER Trust Reaches Agreement with Ashley Capital for Sale of Industrial Land in Livonia, MI

LIVONIA, MI (12/10/2014)(readMedia)-- RACER Trust today announced it has reached an agreement with Ashley Capital, LLC, for the purchase and redevelopment of the former GM Delco Chassis property near Interstates 96 and 275 in Livonia.

Ashley Capital, which manages approximatelty 22 million square feet of industrial and office space in the United States and has the largest industrial property portfolio in Michigan, plans to develop a multitenant industrial park on the 116-acre property, which is located at 12950 and 13000 Eckles Road on the west side of Livonia.

The sale is the second major transaction for RACER in Livonia in 2014. In March, RACER announced the sale of the former GM Livonia Powertrain Plant to Schostak Brothers & Company, Inc., which also said it planned to seek multiple business tenants.

"It is essential to RACER that we sell to buyers who will invest in redevelopment and job creation. Ashley Capital's record in that respect speaks for itself," said Elliott P. Laws, of EPLET, LLC, Administrative Trustee of RACER Trust. "We're delighted for Ashley Capital and for the community, and look forward to the robust revitalization of this property."

"Redeveloping brownfield sites has inherent challenges but Livonia is a first-rate City in which to develop, market conditions are steadily improving and Ashley Capital has the experience needed to transform this site into a first-rate industrial park," said Susan Harvey, Senior Vice President for Ashley Capital.

Ashley Capital's Livonia projects include redevelopment of the former Peregrine plant (now the 1.1 million-square-foot Plymouth Road Technical Center, where tenants include Roush Industries and FedEx); redevelopment of the former Ladbroke/Detroit Race Course (now the 1 million square-foot Livonia Corporate Center); site preparation and construction of a 367,000-square-foot freezer/cooler building now occupied by Mastronardi Produce; and a major renovation of Laurel Park II, a 130,000-square-foot office building that has gone from virtually empty to 80 percent occupancy in three years.

Together, these Livonia projects have led to the creation of more than 2,400 local jobs, according to Ashley Capital.

Ashley Capital also has executed successful redevelopment projects in Detroit and Grand Rapids, among other Michigan locations.

"The City of Livonia is excited to again partner with Ashley Capital, which has a tremendous record of success in our community," Livonia Mayor Jack Kirksey said. "The Eckles Road property has outstanding potential to be a catalyst for growth. Livonia is committed to working with Ashley Capital to see that the development reaches its full potential to maximize job creation and economic activity for the area and the City."

The project benefitted uniquely from the reconstruction of Interstate 96. RACER reached agreement with Dan's Excavating, Inc., to transport, deposit and level at least 300,000 cubic yards of clean fill from the highway project on the Eckles Road property, improving the property's redevelopment capacity and marketability at no cost to RACER.

"The contract with Dan's Excavating is an example of RACER's willingness and ability to be creative in finding opportunities to make our properties as appealing as possible for the market," Mr. Laws said. "In doing so, we improve our ability to carry out our core mission to find buyers who will invest in redevelopment and job creation as quickly as possible."

About RACER Trust: RACER (Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response) Trust was created to clean up and position for redevelopment properties and other facilities owned by the former General Motors Corp. before its 2009 bankruptcy. RACER is one of the largest holders of industrial property in the United States and is the largest environmental response and remediation trust in U.S. history. When the Trust was formed, it owned properties at 89 locations in 14 states, principally in the Midwest and Northeast. The Trust was created by a settlement agreement in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court between the U.S. Government, the 14 states where the former GM properties are located, and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, which owns land adjoining one of the properties in Upstate New York. For more information, please visit our website: www.racertrust.org.

About Ashley Capital, LLC: Founded in 1984, Ashley Capital has become one of the largest privately held real estate investment companies in the United States. Based in New York, the firm has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Grand Rapids and Norfolk, VA. Ashley pursues opportunistic investments, creating value by acquiring and redeveloping underperforming industrial and office properties; developing and managing new business parks; helping corporations reposition their real estate holdings; and advising financial institutions and tax-exempt investors on asset enhancement. Ashley's current portfolio stands at approximately 22 million square feet, with properties concentrated throughout the eastern half of the United States. For more information, please visit www.ashleycapital.com.