Carlisle factory revamp could cost millions, redesign northwest part of town

The former Lear/IAC plant in Carlisle is not your typical brownfield redevelopment project. At least not in Cumberland County.

For starters, the project calls for a multimillion-dollar investment in an urban setting. Secondly, the setting is far from perfect, with most of that money needed for stormwater management systems, street and signal upgrades, and public utilities to the site.

Finally, the project is coming together as a public-private partnership not often seen on this scale, with the Borough of Carlisle and Carlisle Events working together in a partnership of mutual benefit.

“The project is a good model of a public-private partnership in the sense that there's clearly things the developer would be responsible for, and there's other things that would clearly fall into the realm of public,” said Sean Garrigan of Stromberg/Garrigan Associates in Somerset, a consultant on the project.

If and when everything comes together, the project will completely change the look and feel of northwest Carlisle, not to mention the road network. Plans on the 49-acre site call for a hotel, grocery store and smaller shops, along with residential housing and plenty of parking.

“It's huge,” said Perry Heath, borough council president. “We're eventually looking at possibly $50 million worth of investment.”

From the borough's perspective, the Lear/IAC site project is part of a larger blueprint called the Carlisle Urban Redevelopment Plan. It focuses on redeveloping three former manufacturing sites: IAC/Lear, Carlisle Tire and Wheel, and Tyco Electronics.

The plan calls for redevelopment, infrastructure upgrades and major changes to the road network at all three, including up to three roundabouts. Plans for the road network include extending several streets through the Lear/IAC site and making Fairgrounds Avenue a two-way thoroughfare. A, B and C streets were blocked off at the plant decades ago but would be opened to run through the property.

Big price tag

The borough has received grants and is dipping into its liquid fuels tax revenue to pay for early engineering, but Heath said the overall costs are enormous.

“The conceptual engineering work is leading us to understand there's a lot of engineering work that still needs to be done,” he said. “The question is, how do you pay for that?”

Enter Carlisle Events, which purchased the Lear/IAC facility on Carlisle Springs Road in late 2010. The former manufacturing plant is the centerpiece of the redevelopment plan, and Heath called the partnership with Carlisle Events “a key component.”

As with any partnership, Carlisle Events is getting something important as well. Owner of the Carlisle Fairgrounds across the street from Lear/IAC, the company has struggled for decades to find parking for its popular car shows.

Acquiring the manufacturing site gave Carlisle Events a plethora of parking, as well as the keys to a rare development opportunity. Carlisle Events' co-owners Lance Miller and Bill Miller,— who are not related — are steering the company through a growth mode.

They have branched out to hold shows at other venues in Pennsylvania, as well as Zephyrhills, Fla.

Carlisle Events hired Tom Richey to lead the Lear/IAC project. He said ongoing demolition of the IAC buildings is “ahead of schedule.”

“We're out in the market now assessing what we could possibly put there,” said Richey, who has 35 years of experience developing similar projects. “There's certainly going to be a housing component to it. Possibly some offices. Possibly some retail.

“It's a terrific opportunity. You don't often get the opportunity to develop 40 acres in the middle of an urban environment.”

Taxing decisions

Money is the main need to push the overall plan forward. Borough officials met last week to discuss a tax increment financing proposal as part of redevelopment efforts. A TIF permits municipalities to issue bonds to borrow against the future tax proceeds from a development.

The borough received approval last year to create three LERTA districts at those sites. Such local economic revitalization tax assistance allows municipalities, school districts and counties to offer tax incentives for revitalization projects to attract land developers to an area.

Heath said the TIF might be a better route to raise the upfront investment the borough needs. Meanwhile, Garrigan said he hopes to have a draft of public financing options for the borough by early 2015. Public hearings would follow, he added.

Otherwise, Heath said, borough officials are sensitive to creating a shopping destination that doesn't draw potential customers away from the downtown. The urban redevelopment plan is being coordinated with a 2012 retail study completed by Robert Gibbs of the Michigan-based Gibbs Planning Group.

“It's going to have a major impact,” Heath said of new plans. “That's why we're being so careful in the planning process.”

Key dates in the history of the Lear/IAC factory

1919: C.H. Masland & Sons relocates from Philadelphia to Carlisle, setting up shop in the factory on Carlisle Springs Road. Workers made carpeting under the Masland name for more than 66 years, employing more than 1,000 workers at its height.

1986: Burlington Industries Inc., a $2.8 billion-in-sales company, acquires Masland with a $73-a-share bid in June. Burlington controlled Masland for five tumultuous years, selling off its residential carpet production.

1991: A group of local investors buys the company and creates Masland Corp. and its chief operating subsidiary, Masland Industries. Masland converts to public ownership, making its initial public offering in 1993.

1996: Lear, a $4.7 billion-in-sales supplier of car seats and car parts, acquires Masland in July with a $384 million offer.

2007: Michigan-based International Automotive Components North America acquires majority ownership of the plant.

2008: IAC, which made carpets, foam cushions and other interior components for auto manufacturers, closes the Carlisle plant in December after failed union talks the year before and rapidly sinking auto sales during the recession. The factory’s workforce goes from 630 people in 2006 to 152 at closing.

2012: A fire tears through the closed plant in May, destroying a large building and threatening nearby homes.

Source: Central Penn Business Journal