Mixed-Use Plan Eyed for Old Mill, 990 Acres

HOUSTON-An abandoned 606,913-sf paper mill on 990 acres in the far northeastern sector have been acquired for redevelopment. The plan calls for razing and remediation into environmentally friendly, mixed-use space, including "green" warehouses.

CalTex Holdings LP, with partners in California and Texas, secured $20.96 million for the acquisition of the Abitibi paper mill at 18511 Beaumont Highway from NewStar Financial Inc. of Boston. The redevelopment plan is being finalized, but a small portion of the acreage will be set aside for single-family residences and a senior citizens' center.

The mill was built in 1969 to manufacture and distribute newsprint. "They'd put over a billion dollars into upgrades in that plant during the late 1990s," says Jerry Poyner, a principal with CalTex Holdings, whose partners include Bradley Smith and Dennis Keating. The economy forced the mill's closure in 2001 and it's sat vacant ever since.

Poyner tells GlobeSt.com that the partners are trying to buy adjacent tracts to promote their plan for a "green"-warehouse development, the first for the region. He says the goal is to create 1,500 jobs.

Poyner and Smith head up Salt Lake City-based Worldwide Services LLC, which specializes in dismantling, demolition and scrapping of industrial plants and facilities. "The plant has a high quality of non-ferrous material," Poyner says, "and the equipment inside is above excellence." The development partners are still working on the construction timeline.

Robert LaRue with Live Oak Capital Ltd. in Houston arranged the financing. Doyle Toups and Rob Stillwell with Grubb & Ellis Co. in Houston brokered the transaction between CalTex and Abitibi Consolidate of Montreal.