Alcoa plant sold to local developers

"Eli Kahn and Jack Lowe have boosted their industrial holdings in the Downingtown market by picking up a former Alcoa Inc. packaging plant. The two business partners had the 200,000-square-foot building at 512 Lincoln Ave. under agreement since late summer 2009 and paid cash for it.

How much? Kahn won’t divulge say, but the duo borrowed against another nearby property, the Downingtown Technology Center, to help pay for it.

Univest Corp. was the lender.

Alcoa closed down the plant in March and vacated. The building is about 50 years old and had originally been used by Reynolds Aluminum, and Alcoa bought it about five years ago, using it to make metal packaging used for pharmaceutical and food industries. It needs some work, Kahn said, and about $2 million to $3 million will be invested in upgrades.

The property sits adjacent to the Downingtown Technology Center, a project that Kahn and Lowe redeveloped beginning in 1994. That used to be a former Pepperidge Farm Bakery Plant that had 350,000 square feet of vacant industrial space. That property was completely renovated and leased up with over 18 tenants, the largest being Victory Brewing. The Alcoa building will be branded as part of the technology center.

In all, Kahn and Lowe own about 2 million square feet of industrial space in that market.

“It’s been a good little market for us,” Kahn said."