DEVELOPING: Ford Pulls Trigger on Sale of 239 Acres of Shuttered Wixom Plant

Over 200 acres of the Ford Motor Co.’s Wixom assembly plant have been sold, the automotive giant has announced.

Trident Barrow Management, LLC, a unit of Barrow Development, purchased 239 acres of the plant, Ford said in a Friday, Jan. 4 press release.

Shuttered in 2007, the assembly plant produced the Lincoln Continental, Town Car, LS, Mark VI, Mark VII and Mark VIII, in addition to the Ford Thunderbird and GT during its 50-year history.

“We’re very pleased with the sale of the property and look forward to watching new development in the Wixom area,” said Donna Inch, Ford Land chairman and CEO, in the press release. “Both the (Wixom) mayor and city officials have been diligent and steadfast on assisting with repurposing the property and working with the new owners on demolition permitting.”

Demolition of the 239 acres will begin by the end of March.

“Our goal is to make this property an asset with long-term value,” said Brian Wilson, co-founder of Barrow Development Group, in the press release. “Although it’s too early to determine future plans for the site, we will collaborate with both the city and the community when planning for future development.”

Trident acquires, manages, and redevelops industrial properties.

Ford began demolition of its retained 45 acres of the site last year.

Those 45 acres are anticipated to be sold to the Menards chain of home improvement stores as a separate parcel, according to Dornan. The $8-billion-a-year company has stores across the Midwest.

Ford has decided to retain ownership of the site’s 32.13-acre landfill to deal with environmental issues, given the potential for any future liability.

Townsend Energy Solutions, headquartered in Baltimore, Md. expressed an interest in the Ford plant property in 2011. However, it still has not executed any purchase or lease agreements with Ford.

Terms of the deal with Trident Barrow were not released.

This is a developing story that we will update as we receive more information.