RACER Trust, Ashley Capital Complete Sale of Property in Livonia, Mich.; 200 Jobs Expected

RACER Trust today announced it has completed the sale of 18.8 acres in Livonia, Mich., to Ashley Capital, which intends to build a 370,000-square-foot logistics center that is expected to result in 200 new jobs for the community.

The parcel is adjacent to a former GM Delco Chassis property on the west side of Livonia that Ashley Capital purchased in 2015 and redeveloped with 1.5 million square feet of distribution space. Amazon.com occupies a 1 million-square-foot distribution center, and Republic National Distributing Company occupies 500,000 square feet. Together, they employ approximately 1,500 people.

“Ashley Capital is a proven, successful developer of industrial properties, as demonstrated by their transformative work at the formerly vacant Delco Chassis property and elsewhere,” said Elliott P. Laws, of EPLET, LLC, Administrative Trustee of RACER Trust. “RACER’s redevelopment mission compels us to secure buyers who will maximize a property’s reuse potential for the benefit of our communities, and Ashley Capital is helping us fulfill our mission in Livonia.”

 “The success of our previous work on this property, along with favorable market conditions for industrial properties overall, gives us confidence that there will be more than sufficient demand to support this investment,” said Susan Harvey, Senior Vice President of Ashley Capital.

Ashley Capital intends to invest $32 million in the build-out, scheduled for completion by the end of 2023. The property is at the corner of Eckles Road and Amrhein Road, near Interstates 96 and 275.

Ashley Capital has a strong presence in Livonia, which, in addition to its previous redevelopment of the Delco Chassis property, includes the 1.1 million-square-foot Plymouth Road Technical Center; the 1 million-square-foot Livonia Corporate Center; the 475,000 square-foot Mastronardi Produce building; and the 1 million-square-foot Livonia Distribution Center.

“Ashley Capital has long been a reliable partner to the City of Livonia, and their work has resulted in new opportunities for thousands of people in our community,” Livonia Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan said. “I appreciate their ongoing investment, as well as the work of RACER Trust to prepare this property to generate additional local economic benefits and jobs.”

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. When it was formed in 2011, RACER was one of the largest holders of industrial property in the United States and was the largest environmental response and remediation trust in U.S. history. Its initial property holdings were 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. For more information, please visit www.ashleycapital.com.