Dart: Closed Dart Container plant in east Urbana put up for sale

Jun. 21-URBANA - A 269,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in east Urbana that was previously home to Dart Container Corp. is available for purchase or lease. Local broker Guth & Associates is assisting Newmark with marketing the property nationwide on behalf of the manufacturing company. The plant at 1505 E. Main St. closed in October. It had been in operation since 1972 and started as a Solo Cup facility until Dart acquired the company in 2012. Dart's corporate office said in August that it had decided to close the facility due to "declining production volume." The shutdown affected about 135 employees. According to a property listing on , the site is made up of six parcels totaling 56 acres, including four lots to the north that could be sold separately. "Previously used by Dart Development/Solo Cup, the property consists of multiple dock doors, overhead doors and two rail doors (Norfolk Southern rail line)," the listing states. "Building consists of heavy power and manufacturing infrastructure as well as a corporate office building." An asking price was not posted. "We're excited to see the next chapter for this site and are open to uses that will be compatible with its surroundings and benefit the community," Mayor Diane Marlin said. "Goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: Ideally, we want to see the property stay on the tax rolls, with use/uses that provide jobs and other revenue." About one-third of the city's land area is currently exempt from property taxes, which "shifts the financial burden onto remaining property owners," Marlin said.