Manufacturer to Buy Property From Armstrong

Lancaster, PA, Jan. 28–Another local businessman is hoping to put some of Armstrong World Industries’ surplus land to good use, according to the Lancaster New Era.

Craig M. Bear, owner of B&B Yamaha, has agreed to buy seven acres from Armstrong along Route 283 and build a new facility there.

The project, next to an Armstrong warehouse and the county’s emergency training center, would cost more than $1 million, Bear said on Friday.

The project cost includes $485,000 for the land, an Armstrong court filing shows.
The deal could lead to about eight new jobs at Bear’s 15-employee business.

“We’ve outgrown what we have. This is going to be a whole, whole lot nicer for everybody,” Bear said.

The B&B Yamaha deal is Armstrong’s third agreement to sell vacant Lancaster County land since the company entered bankruptcy three years ago.

Last fall, it won court approval to sell a tract to local developer Robert A. Wolf II. In 2001, it won court approval to sell a Marietta parcel to Conectiv; that deal fell through after Conectiv scuttled plans for a power plant there.

But Armstrong also has used the bankruptcy process to void the sale of vacant land. In 2002, it got the court to approve a cancellation of the sale of land next to its Columbia Avenue headquarters for the Fairsted “livable community” project.

B&B Yamaha’s new facility would be 20,000 square feet, more than double the size of its present building.

Assuming Armstrong’s sale is approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and that B&B Yamaha’s plans win the approval of East Hempfield Township, B&B Yamaha hopes to start construction this spring and move there late this year.