Applied Partners, a company that specializes in remediation has agreed to purchase the Century Aluminum plant in Ravenswood for $15 million. The company will house one of its own subsidiaries on the site and make spaces available for other companies too in the total 1,800 acres of redeveloped lands.
The planned purchase was submitted to the federal Securities Exchange Commission on Dec. 2 and the process is expected to complete by the end of next March. The company specializes in reclaiming commodity assets and redevelop properties for future reuse and economic renewal.
In an interview, Applied Partners President Mark Cenit appreciated the property and its location in West Virginia.
Cenit said that once they buy the property, the existing Century plant will be dismantled. The plant closed its operations permanently in 2009 because of the fluctuations in the international aluminium market and financial meltdown. The plant has no chance of reopening.
“We’re going to bring the entire site down to ground level” while working with the state Division of Environmental Protection, he said.
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Early assumption indicated that the property would be developed into a coal-to-gas facility. Cenit, though indicated a possibility did not confirm anything about the future plans.
“That’s one of the people that are in deep conversations, so that’s definitely a possibility,” he said.
He said that Applied Partners has been doing such redevelopment projects for eight to nine years, including a few in the Midwest and this would be similar but the first project in West Virginia.
State Senator Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson also expressed his excitement about the potential for development.
“I am so pleased that Applied Partners, and its president Mark Cenit, believe the Century Aluminum site is ‘one of the finest industrial properties in West Virginia.’ “I couldn’t agree more. I have always believed in the potential of that location, and I am committed to do everything I can to make West Virginia as attractive as possible to companies who may look to locate there,” he said.
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