AVILLA — Avilla has no vacant land for new development, which is why the town purchased 81 acres aimed at creating a new industrial park.
The town recently purchased the land, at the southeast corner of S.R. 8 and Lemper Road, in an auction for $415,000. Avilla is working on closing the sale and could own the property by early August.
Avilla needs more space because there is no room for industrial growth in the town, Town Manager Bill Ley said. All of the town’s industrial buildings are filled, and there is no vacant land available inside the town limits, he said.
No private developers have expressed an interest in buying land and offering it for new industrial or commercial developments, so the town is taking the initiative, Ley said. The land is being paid for out of the town’s county economic development income tax funds.
“We couldn’t find any developers interested. There is no available land for new development at this point,” Ley said.
New industrial growth in Avilla has been picking up recently. Manufacturer Wirco recently purchased the former DeKalb Distributing building to double the size of its operation, Group Dekko announced a new expansion Wednesday night, and Ley said he and Noble County Economic Development Corp. are in early talks with another firm that may be announcing a third project soon.
The town will need to annex the 81 acres into its limits, which could take up to six months. The annexation shouldn’t be an issue, since the town can avoid having to swallow up any residential properties because it can connect to the field by annexing Oak Farm Schools, which doesn’t pay taxes and wouldn’t be negatively affected tax-wise by an annexation, Ley said. Oak Farm was agreeable to the annexation in initial talks, Ley said.
“We have no vacant land for development. This is a good opportunity for us,” Ley said.
Avilla will need to figure out to what extent it should prepare the land for new business, especially concerning utilities. Water service already is extended near that site, but the town’s electric service isn’t. The town doesn’t have any electric lines east of S.R. 3, so determining whether to extend that utility out ahead of development — and paying for it — is a decision officials will need to make in the coming months.
Town Council members are backing the decision to grow the town and open new space for development.
“We’ve been trying for years and years to get more property and we finally got it,” Town Council President Paul Shepherd said.