A road salt dealer acquired a former cardboard box plant in Scranton to expand its presence in Northeast Pennsylvania.
purchased the former Temple-Inland facility at 301 Green Ridge St., and plans to use the building for road salt storage and distribution, taking advantage of a railroad spur.
The company closed on the property, which includes a 72,000-square-foot building on 3.5 acres, last week for a price of $1,037,500, according to information with the Lackawanna County recorder of deeds.
A person reached at Schoenberg Salt said the company would decline to do an interview and not discuss its plans. A privately owned company, Schoenberg Salt is a distributor of de-icing salt and other products from Florida to Maine.
The Clemmons, North Carolina-based company plans to use the site for salt storage, said Steve Farrell of Classic Properties, who represented Schoenberg in the transaction.
“Everything with the site worked — the access and the rail service,” he said. “The company will stay in Scranton and maintain its location on Birch Street.”
Most recently, the building was used as a cardboard box factory.
That part of the city has a legacy as an industrial area, with many former factories up and down the street and along Albright Avenue to Scranton Lace. Steve Carroll of Hinerfeld Commercial Realty initially marketed the site on behalf of owner DDRC Realty Co., a partnership of Scartelli family in Throop. He promoted the location as a warehouse and potential commercial site, thinking the property could have more value as a commercial location given the traffic on Green Ridge Street. However, given the long-term vacancies at the Green Ridge Plaza behind the facility, there was not much interest in expanding commercial space.
The plant had produced paper boxes for at least 55 years, first as Scranton Corrugated Box, then as Chesapeake Corp., and most recently as Temple-Inland, which ceased production in 2011.
Schoenberg Salt had a location at the former Triangle Pacific Kitchen Cabinet Plant in Carbondale, but moved out several years ago.
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dfalchek@timesshamrock.com
