While it hunted for a plant buyer, the company sold off 15 acres of its 200-acre campus at John Young Parkway and Consulate Drive to EastGroup Properties of Jackson, MI for $1.9 million or $126,666 per acre ($2.90 per sf). Agere officials also confirm for GlobeSt.com that they have $90 million in pending sales deals for the company's computer hardware.
At one time, Agere officials were hoping to sell the entire plant and real estate for about $2 billion, area industrial brokers familiar with the property tell GlobeSt.com. The non-sale of the plant is expected to be a double blow to both the industrial real estate market here and the local economy. Adding 1.1 million sf of combined vacant manufacturing and office space to metro Orlando's existing 74-million-sf industrial market will push the vacancy level near the 9% mark in the fourth quarter, according to various area brokerages.
At its peak production period in 2001, just before the global technology shakeout, Agere employed 1,800 technicians and support staffers. When the plant closed Sept. 30, the workforce was down to 135, Agere officials confirm. Agere designed and sold semiconductors for the telecommunications industry.
Besides the loss of jobs to the community, another big loser in the plant's closing will be the Orange County government. Agere has been paying about $3 million in annual property taxes over the past six years, county tax records confirm. Agere is the county's largest taxpayer after Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando.
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