MUNCIE, Ind. — RACER Trust has sold approximately 1.2 acres of a 66.5-acre industrial property in Muncie to M&M Bus Co., Inc., a local school bus contractor that has leased the paved lot for bus parking since 1988.
The lot is located at the intersection of South Elliott and West 7th streets, directly east of the main portion of the RACER Trust property. In January 2016, RACER Trust completed the sale of approximately six acres on the south side of West 8th Street, immediately south of the main property, to Ross Community Center.
“M&M Bus has long been a part of the Muncie community, and we’re happy to reach this milestone with a company that provides such an important local service,” said Elliott P. Laws, of EPLET, LLC, Administrative Trustee of RACER Trust.
“We appreciate RACER Trust’s willingness to work with us to keep this piece of property in the M&M Bus family,” said David Willard, President of M&M Bus Co., Inc. “We had been leasing our lot for nearly 30 years, but we know RACER’s mission is to sell properties, not hold them over the long term. This purchase allows both RACER and M&M Bus to achieve their goals and solidifies M&M’s place at home here in Muncie.”
“As any parent or grandparent of a school-age child can tell you, it is impossible to overstate the importance of safe, reliable bus transportation, and the team at M&M Bus has been providing that to the children of Muncie for more than 40 years,” Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler said. “M&M Bus is a tremendous asset to our community, and I congratulate and thank David Willard and his team for their success and dedicated service.”
RACER Trust took ownership of the property, the site of the former General Motors Manual Transmissions of Muncie manufacturing operation, in 2011. GM ceased operations at the site in 2006 and completed demolition of buildings in 2009. RACER Trust is marketing the remaining acreage for sale, and is seeking a buyer who will invest in redevelopment and job creation. Nearly all of the remaining acreage is located on the north side of West 8th Street, west of South Elliott Street, and is served by an active rail spur.
About RACER Trust:
RACER (Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response) Trust was created to clean up and position for redevelopment properties and other facilities owned by the former General Motors Corp. before its 2009 bankruptcy. RACER is one of the largest holders of industrial property in the United States and is the largest environmental response and remediation trust in U.S. history. When the Trust was formed, it owned properties at 89 locations in 14 states, principally in the Midwest and Northeast. The Trust was created by a settlement agreement in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court between the U.S. Government, the 14 states where the former GM properties are located, and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, which owns land adjoining one of the properties in Upstate New York. For more information, please visit our website: www.racertrust.org.
