$80M Logistics Center Still Alive Despite Option Lapse

MERCER, Pa. – The lapse of Clayco Realty Group’s option on a 2,016-acre site near Exit 15 of Interstate 80 doesn’t mean a proposed logistics center project there is dead, local officials said.  

Clayco Realty announced last September that it was under contract to acquire and perform due diligence on the site. Its initial plans, as outlined at Penn-Northwest Development Corp.’s annual meeting, were to spend an estimated $80 million to build the proposed Cubes Logistics Center on the county-owned property. 

At a meet-and-greet event Thursday hosted by four Mercer County chambers of commerce, county Commissioner Matt McConnell reported Chicago-based Clayco had permitted its option to lapse on the site for tax purposes.

“The bad news is that [the option] is lapsed. The good news is they’re actually still working on that. They’re actively out there trying to sell to other folks,” McConnell said.

“I’m not concerned in any way, shape or form,” said Randy Seitz, Penn-Northwest’s executive director. 

Clayco had 90-days to close on the property. Though company officials “liked what they had in terms of interest,” no prospects “really signed on the dotted line,” he said. 

McConnell said he didn’t “jump for joy” at the time that the agreement between the county and Clayco was entered into. What is important is that there are “nationally recognized groups” that are looking at the property. 

“That is something that I heard my entire life: location, location, location,” he said. “We finally have somebody interested at a national level. That’s the most important thing about this and they’re still involved.” 

Seitz said he speaks regularly with W. Scott Caplan, senior vice president with Clayco. The company’s “hottest lead” for the proposed warehouse is a food distribution client Penn-Northwest connected it with, Seitz said. Clayco Realty has spent heavily on marketing and is committed to the site, he assured.  

“They want to know they have a tenant that is interested in occupying that space instead of spending that money foolishly,” Seitz said. “It’s going to take a little bit of time to get a client on board.”

Marah Morrison contributed reporting to this story.

Pictured: W. Scott Caplan, vice president of Clayco Realty Group, at the Penn-Northwest annual meeting in September.

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