BUILDINGS BEING UPDATED AT FORMER INTERMEDICS CAMPUS - PARCELS READY TO LEASE The Facts : May 14, 2010 Buildings being updated at former Intermedics campus Parcels ready to lease, site’s new manager says. Friday, May 14, 2010 By JOHN LOWMAN ANGLETON - Tim Hurst and Mike Latimer hope to lease the buildings once owned by Intermedics in large or small sections, beginning as soon as possible. Latimer is part of Rulica/Angleton, a company of family members put together by real estate agent Billy Hale. Hurst owns Hurst Technologies of Angleton, the company overseeing the refurbishing and leasing of the largest buildings on the campus. Hurst also is the first tenant in the two-story, 250,000-square-foot former research and manufacturing building. Rulica/Angleton and Hurst are in the process of updating climate-control units and making minor cosmetic updates to prepare the two largest structures at the five-building, 393,592-square-foot Intermedics campus for lease. Latimer is overseeing work to, and lease of, the three-story, 60,000-square-foot office building. "Rulica is talking to prospective tenants as we speak," Latimer told about 100 people Thursday at a Greater Angleton Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the American Legion hall. "We're very interested in talking to anybody who's interested in the building," Latimer said. "We believe it will be ready to occupy by late summer or early fall." There are hundreds of offices, multiple "clean" rooms, conference rooms, full-service laboratories, media rooms and more available, Hurst said. Amenities in the Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant buildings include controlled-access entry doors, industrial-grade electrical systems, backup power supplies, a sprinkler system, data ports and connectivity, security cameras and gated access to Highway 288-B. Interest in the campus was immediate upon the late April public announcement it would be leased and not just sold all in one swoop, Hurst said. "We've been talking to six large potential tenants looking for commercial and commercial-industrial space," Hurst said. "Some of the companies we're dealing with aren't in Brazoria County right now." Hurst wouldn't identify those companies, but did say his firm and Rulica are willing to subdivide the buildings to suit tenant needs. Latimer can be reached at 281-879-5600. Paula Mutina Properties is helping Hurst with leasing, and can be reached at 979-849-2222. An audience member asked how soon space could be seen. "Want to go now?" Hurst said, partly joking. The Green Dynasty Trust, created by the founder of Hobby Lobby, bought the site in April 2003 for about $8 million. The trust then donated it to Sugar Creek Baptist Church, which has maintained landscaping, climate control and security. Many of the buildings look as though occupants walked out a few months ago, with only minor carpet stretching or ding repair needed before occupancy, Hurst said. Some parts of the landscaped property will be sold as raw land for business sites, Latimer said. Two such parcels face two large ponds in the front of the property, off a part of Highway 288-B known as Technology Drive. There are three other buildings for lease on the site, including a 23,000-square-foot biomedical test building, an 18,000-square-foot service center and a 28,000 square foot distribution center. "We are committed to putting this property to its highest and best use," Latimer said. That now means multitenant, smaller lessees, he said. Hale - a real estate professional and member of Sugar Creek Baptist Church - suggested in 2007 the church subdivide the property, but church members disagreed. After the building did not sell in several tries, including an auction last summer, Hale put together the coalition that now owns the property. An audience member asked when the public could come see the campus long kept closed after employing about 1,400 people. Hurst said there's been interest in a tour, and calls from groups hoping to have Intermedics reunions. "At some point, we're going to have some sort of grand opening or party," he said. Intermedics was founded by the late Albert Beutel in the 1970s. It originally was a pacemaker company in the old downtown area of Freeport. The company built the Angleton complex and moved into it in 1983. After Guidant bought Intermedics and later closed the campus, the complex was offered for sale at $25 million. In September 2002, the price was cut to $9.9 million. Sugar Creek Baptist Church owned and maintained the site for about six years. © Copyright 2010, The Facts, Clute, TX.