EDGEMOOR – An upstart Connecticut-based real estate investment firm has acquired the former IKO shingle manufacturing plant in a $10.5 million deal, according to county land records.
IKO, an international roofing material manufacturer based in Canada, closed its Hay Road plant in 2021, laying off 67 workers after determining that the aging shingle production facility was too costly to continue to operate.
On March 30, the 13-acre property was acquired by East Capital Partners, a firm cofounded by David Archibald and Drew DeWitt in December 2022. The founders have spent decades in investment banking and real estate, securing deals worth more than $7 billion.
A request for comment to the partners on the acquisition, which appears to be the firm’s first in Delaware, was not returned.
According to its website, East Capital Partners focuses on major infill markets across the United States, with a specific focus on the Northeast, mid-Atlantic and Southeast coastal markets. It seeks a variety of asset types, including vacant land, existing warehouses, small-bay industrial, truck terminals, cold storage, manufacturing, office, and life science buildings.
Its targeted investment size is between $2 million and $500 million, and looks for value-add or redevelopment projects.
“Others may shy away from difficult transactions — but we’ve gotten to where we are today by keeping ‘no’ at bay —and always finding a way to get things done, and done right. We have invested successfully through all market cycles and across the entire risk spectrum in a variety of asset classes,” the firm writes on its website.
In addition to its investment business, East Capital Partners is also a vertically integrated real estate company, providing its own asset management, property management, accounting, construction, and leasing services.
The former IKO plant sits adjacent to the Edgemoor land planned to host a $500 million container port built by Gulftainer, the operator of the Port of Wilmington just to the south.
While a new industrial use could be found for the plant, it may also be a candidate for conversion to a distribution facility, a particularly hot sector in Delaware where warehouse space is at a premium. The site lies next to an interchange with Interstate 495.
The Edgemoor plant was the oldest facility in the United States for IKO, which opened the location in 1981 after acquiring it from a competitor. It produced the asphalt shingles that have commonly topped residential homes for decades.
Even after the plant shut down, IKO continues to have a small presence in the Wilmington area as its U.S. corporate headquarters operates out of a Denny Road office complex not far from the former plant.
