Go ahead and moan.
But Big Industrial, the Kansas company that bought the former Bridgestone/Firestone Dayton Tire plant two years ago, converted it to space for lease and renamed it after Oklahoma’s favorite son — who famously said he "never met a man” he "didn’t like” — means it when it says it’s flexible.
Big pitch The owners recently invited industrial property brokers to tour the 1.3-million-square-foot space at 7501 SW 29. They pitched it, with its 42- to 64-foot column spacing and 22- to 24-foot-high ceilings — competitive, but not the height of most new buildings — as move-in ready for manufacturers or distributors.
Most of the brokers, including a few in the commercial real estate business since the building went up in the 1970s, seemed ready to catch. Plus, they were just glad to see the space in use. When Bridgestone/Firestone closed the huge factory three years ago — it was 2.5 million square feet then — many in the business community were afraid it would sit dark for years.
Big plans Big Industrial came in with big ideas — bigger than those of a few local investors who checked out the space with an eye to buying it, but didn’t.
All some people saw was a huge outdated factory and warehouse, said Randy Lacey, industrial property broker with Grubb & Ellis-Levy Beffort.
Big Industrial, based in suburban Kansas City, Kan., with similar heavy-industrial conversions on its resume, saw another opportunity.
Big turnaround "It’s a complete turnaround of an old, antiquated manufacturing facility that couldn’t be changed to meet the market,” Lacey said.
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