Summers Taylor Construction, which has been based in Elizabethton for around 80 years, entered into a sales contract on Thursday to purchase the old General Mills property in Johnson City with plans to move their headquarters to that location after renovations are completed.
The sales contract was approved Thursday by the Board of The Chamber of Commerce serving Johnson City, Jonesborough and Washington County.
“We have accepted a sales contract,” said Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Gary Mabrey. “A sales contract gives them the chance to purchase and develop the property. It is not a final deal.”
There is still work to be done by Summers-Taylor regarding the purchase, and that process could take a few months.
The old General Mills property, also known as the Model Mill, is located at 500 W. Walnut St., in Johnson City near the campus of East Tennessee State University. The sales contract sets the price for the property, which covers about 4.7 acres, at $570,000.
“We understand they are going to move their headquarters from over there (Elizabethton) to over hear,” Mabrey said. “They have also said they will develop the remaining square footage,”
The property is already home to the mill building, which Mabrey said Summers-Taylor President Grant Summers expressed plans to renovate to house the company’s headquarters. The Mill contains about 50,000 square feet of space.
The property also contains other buildings beside the historic Model Mill with it’s iconic silo storage towers. Mabrey said Summers expressed his plans to develop the remaining outlying parcels of the property and the remaining buildings.
While the building is an historic site for the community Mabrey said the property is not on the National Registry of Historic Places so it will not be subject to any of the restrictions that typically come with renovating a historic site. While Summers-Taylor will not face those restrictions Mabrey said “we have a sense they will preserve it.”
The General Mills site is more than 100 years old, having been constructed in the early 1900s. The Mill closed operations in 2002. The Chamber of Commerce serving Johnson City, Jonesborough and Washington County purchased the property in 2008 — at a reported price of $400,000 — with hopes of developing the property.
Mabrey said the Chamber of Commerce did not solicit Summers-Taylor to purchase the property. “They approached us about the purchase,” he said.
The Elizabethton Star was unable to reach Summers-Taylor President Grant Summers for comment regarding the sales contract.
While the sales contract could prove to be a benefit for the Johnson City Community, not much is known at this time as to how the potential move will affect the City of Elizabethton.
“There’s not really enough information at this time but I’m working on scheduling a meeting with Mr. Summers tomorrow to talk more about the transaction,” said Elizabethton Planning and Development Director Jon Hartman on Thursday evening.