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

DATE: THURSDAY, July 27, 1995                   TAG: 9507270032
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER|
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BLUE BIRD BUS PLANT'S FOR SALE - AGAIN

Blue Bird Corp. has hired Hart Corp. industrial real estate brokerage to find a new user for its former school-bus plant in Buena Vista. The plant has been closed since 1993.

Local governments hope to begin turning adjacent land into an industrial park within a few months.

Blue Bird of Macon, Ga., is asking $3.625 million for the 241,000-square-foot plant and 78 surrounding acres. The facility was left idle by a downturn in demand for buses. About 220 people lost jobs when it closed.

Buena Vista, Lexington and Rockbridge County officials see vacant land around the factory as a future industrial park.

They have offered to buy the tract if a prospective industry is interested only in the building, said Buena Vista City Manager Richard Flora.

"If our buying the land entices the industry in there, that would be a good match," Flora said. "Our primary interest in the building down there was to have the excess property to make available to other industries."

A study found the site is large enough for as many as five businesses. Preliminary talks revolve around the three local governments' creating a joint industrial development authority to buy the land. Flora said an authority could be formed late this summer or in the fall.

Hart was hired after a contract with another real estate brokerage expired last year.

Blue Bird president Paul Glaske, who in April said the plant someday "may have some real value to us," on Tuesday said he had no plans to resume production there.

The building's tall ceilings and rail access could suit a variety of manufacturers, said Hart agent Tommy Turner.

by CNB