Durham Cigarette Maker, Tobacco Business
Another developer is exploring purchasing the former Chesterfield cigarette maker at the corner of Duke and Main streets downtown. Durham authorities said that there’s pressure to start the project before the end of the year before an existing approved new project site plan expires. BGL Real Estate Advisors has a only 60-day due steady period to investigate buying the seven-story former Liggett Group cigarette manufacture, aued Robert Flanigan, vice president for the Cleveland-based investment firm Brown Gibbons Lang & Co.
BGL Real Estate Advisors is a subsidiary of Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. Flanigan explained he couldn’t comment more without the seller’s written permission.
The company was one of two that, at one time, were both pursuing the possible reconstruction of the building.
Beforehand, developer Josh Parker of Durham declared that he had the building under contract. But he argued that he needed an extension in order to tie down details of a contract with a “main institution” for lease of area in the building following its redevelopment, but that was not conferred.
“The seller indicated that they wanted to see what other offers were available in the tobacco market,” Parker added.
The lease would have provided comfort for to balance the financial risk of buying the building, he said. He said he was partnering with Wexford Science and Technology to purchase and develop the building.
Parker said that he remains interested in the Chesterfield. If he doesn’t move ready with the project, he said he faces the implicit for a “significant personal loss of capital.” He decreased to state the specific amount of potential loss, but said “there were two commas” in the number.
“ We’ve since made further progress, we still remain interested in the property if it comes back to the tobacco market, but I understand the folks looking at it are credible and have a new plan, and so it may or may not come available again,” he said.
The building at 701 W. Main St. was where the Liggett Group manufactured cigs before the tobacco company moved its manufacturing out of downtown Durham.
The building originally was chose to be a part of the West Village redevelopment of former tobacco buildings by a team that included former Duke University basketball stars Christian Laettner and Brian Davis.
But the building was deeded in place of foreclosure to the company Select Capital Management after the developers defaulted on a $10 million property to the company, according to previous researches in The Herald-Sun and to court documents.