TDC sees possibilities for prime property
By Seth Schmidt
A new future is envisioned for a blighted property on South Center Street in Tracy.
The Tracy Development Corporation has purchased the former Armour/Swift, Monfort/JBS hog-buying station with plans to market the property for future commercial development.
“The site has excellent development potential,” comments Jim Keul, president of the TDC. Access to both a 10-ton road and the adjacent Canada Pacific Railroad, industrial zoning, and water & sewer infrastructure make the site highly desirable for a business enterprise, Keul believes.
“TDC is eager to work with anyone interested in the property for any economic development that would add jobs to the community and increase the current tax base,” Keul said.
The TDC plans to raze the vacant barn and pens on the site, and market the property to a commercial business, unless a developer prefers to acquire the property in “as is” condition, and clear the site on its own, according to Keul. The station’s sprawling barn and pen structure has an extensive concrete footprint.
Besides acquiring a prime economic development property, Keul says the TDC’s action will also have the benefit of eliminating an eyesore from a highly visible location. Cleaning up the site dovetails into the Tracy Economic Development Authority’s new housing development plans for a block in the Broadacres neighborhood near Center and Pine. The old hog-buying station, which loaded its last pigs about four years ago, has fallen into disrepair.
The TDC purchased the eight-tenths of an acre property from ConAgra, the umbrella organization for Swift & Co.
See this week’s Headlight-Herald for more on this article.