Vandalia industrial building sells for $12 million-plus

Dec. 22—An industrial building at 6400 Sand Lake Road sold recently for $12.25 million, new Montgomery County property records show — a possible precursor to a manufacturer's move to the building, one Vandalia city official believes.

The buyer is a limited liability company tied to Rosemont, Ill.-based industrial real estate firm Brennan Investment Group, the deed shows. The seller was 6400 Sand Lake, another LLC.

"The building is leased, so we have no plans to do anything with the site," said Doug Lease, Brennan Group vice president.

A spokesman for the city of Vandalia believes the purchase may be a precursor to a move by an expected manufacturer, Creative Foam.

Creative Foam is an automotive component manufacturer that will move some of its operations to the building, Rich Hopkins, Vandalia communication manager, said Thursday. The plan was to start with about 25 employees with the hope of another 100 or so jobs once all of the company's equipment is installed and production ramps up, he said.

"It looks like it could be a third-party company that will be leasing the building back to Creative Foam," Hopkins said.

The state of Ohio expects the company to generate $4 million in new annual payroll while retaining $5.7 million in existing payroll as a result of its expansion in Vandalia. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority in October approved a 1.173%, seven-year "job creation tax credit" for this project.

Creative Foam is located today on North Dixie Drive.

Virginia-based Plow & Hearth, a home and garden retailer, has used the building as a distribution site since 2001.

Marketing materials for the site describe it has an industrial warehouse structure with nearly 193,000 square feet of rentable space. It was built in 1977 and is located about half a mile from Interstate 75, about two miles south of I-70.

A Vandalia e-commerce company, the Children's Group LLC, closed and laid off near 30 employees at the building in late 2018 and early 2019.

The Brennan Investment Group says it holds more than 550 properties nationally with some 52 million square feet, with a nearly 98% occupancy rate.