
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 27, 1994                   TAG: 9410270080
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT                                LENGTH: Medium

MOD-U-KRAF LAND SWAP APPROVED

A land swap involving a future Mod-U-Kraf Homes expansion was approved by the Franklin County Board of Supervisors and the Rocky Mount Town Council at a joint meeting Tuesday.

According to the terms of the agreement, Mod-U-Kraf assumes ownership of an 18-acre parcel in the Franklin County-Rocky Mount Industrial Park. In return, Franklin County gets a 20-acre site the company owned adjacent to its modular housing factory on Virginia 40 outside Rocky Mount.

David Laurrell, Franklin County's assistant administrator, said assessed values of the two parcels were comparable, but those values were not available Wednesday.

Mod-U-Kraf plans to build a 90,000-square-foot expansion that will create 60 new jobs, according to Dale Powell, the company's president. The expansion is expected to be complete next year.

The company will continue operating its current facility, which employs 100. Mod-U-Kraf will observe its 25th anniversary in Franklin County later this year.

During negotiations with Mod-U-Kraf, town and county officials decided to acquire additional land adjacent to the industrial park to increase the size of several vacant lots, including the one Mod-U-Kraf will use for its expansion.

The lots also were realigned to make them more marketable, Laurrell said.

Several options are being discussed for the 20-acre site off Virginia 40 that the county is acquiring, Laurrell said. The land is near the planned location of a Wal-Mart superstore on Virginia 40.

by CNB