REAL ESTATE
RM Headlee plans move to bigger property
Orchard Park distributor RM Headlee is moving to a larger facility further up California Road, buying a foreclosed property previously occupied by a direct- mail producer while turning its own former building over to a medical services neighbor.
Headlee owner Gary W. Lauchert, through his GWL Properties LLC entity, paid $210,100 to buy the property at 3649 California Road from GWL Properties LLC. The property was formerly home to Gamble Printing and Mailing, but was foreclosed on by lender UPS Capital, which sold the building and land to Lauchert. Gamble, meanwhile, moved in April to 1971 Abbott Road in Lackawanna.
Lauchert, president of RM Headlee, plans to move the 39- year-old industrial valve supplier and its 15 employees to the much larger property in September, sharply increasing its space “to be able to handle larger valves for our growing business.”
He said he expects to “completely demo the whole office and do it over,” spending about $150,000 on the project.
Headlee supplies valves to the industrial, municipal, commercial and original equipment markets, for a range of purposes. “Anything that flows through pipes, we probably have a valve for it,” Lauchert said.
The $10 million company doesn’t make the products, but rather acts as a distributor for 10 different manufacturers. It purchases the valves and actuators, assembles and tests them, and then resells them as the sales and service arm for the manufacturers in New York state, northwestern Pennsylvania and Vermont. It has more than 1,500 customers.
Last year, the company grew 31 percent, and is on track so far to meet projections for another 9 percent growth for 2009.
Headlee’s old building, located at 3596 California Road, has 4,200 square feet of space, with 8-foot ceilings. The new one-story building is 7,800 square feet, including a 1,800 square-foot office with standard 8-foot ceilings but also 6,000 square feet of warehouse space with 16- foot ceilings.
Lauchert had tried to buy the new building a year ago, but backed out, citing “too many liens” on the property because of Gamble’s financial problems. “So I waited and bought it for a lot less at foreclosure, but I had to wait a long time,” he said.
Lauchert’s current building was sold to PrO2 LLC, a home oxygen company that supplies equipment for respiratory services at home, ranging from oxygen systems with concentrators and portable units to aerosol systems for nebulizer breathing treatments. It also supplies units to help with sleep apnea. PrO2, located at 3586 California Road, plans to expand, Lauchert said.
PrO2 officials could not be reached to comment. A Gamble owner, who declined to give his name, also would not comment.
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