PGT Industries buys land for additional glass plant

BUYER: PGT Industries Inc. (principals: Rodney Herschberger, David McCutcheon, Mario Ferrucci III, Deborah Lapinska, Jeffrey Jackson, Monte Burns and Todd Antonelli), North Venice
SELLER: Triple Diamond Commerce Plaza LLC
PROPERTY: 100 and 104 Triple Diamond Blvd., Nokomis
PRICE: $1.64 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $196,900, July 2001
LAW FIRM ON DEED: J. Kevin Drake PA, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: North Venice-based PGT Industries Inc. purchased 11.99 acres of vacant land in Triple Diamond Commerce Plaza for $1.64 million.

The price equated to $137,215 per acre.

The window and door manufacturer acquired the property to develop a 50,000-square-foot glass plant. Development is currently estimated to cost between $12 million and $14 million. Willis A. Smith Construction Inc., the general contractor for the project, is currently working on the site plan and engineering, but the company is hopeful that construction could start in the next four to six weeks.

Jeff Jackson, PGT Industries' executive vice president of operations and chief financial officer, says the company is exploring its options for incentives with the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County.

The new plant is estimated to create 50 jobs.

“We are seeing Florida's housing market gaining momentum over the first half of the year,” he says. “Our sales grew more than 30%. It will take us 10 to 12 months to build, so we knew we need to do it now.”

The company has already had trouble in the past meeting its need for glass and has had to buy from an outside supplier in some cases. Jackson says producing glass internally allows the company to better control its inventory and delivery to customers and the cost and quality of the glass.
“The last 12 months has been better than the past five years,” Jackson says.

The company has grown this year from around 1,000 employees at the beginning of the year up to 1,350 employees today. He estimates the company will employ 1,500 people by 2014.