CASE STUDIES
New Heights Industrial Park
New Heights was a cavernous 850,000 SF facility full of history and potential but nothing else. Built by Fairchild Aviation to create thousands of military and civilian aircraft, the facility had not held a tenant in over 20 years. Located on a vibrant stretch of the I81 trucking corridor The Langer Co saw potential in creating a logistics facility in an area with high demand.
The building was in full disrepair with deferred maintenance issues abound. Finding a way to profitably rehabilitate the property escaped many other interested parties.
Michael Langer saw a real estate opportunity where others saw only a failed old property destined to loom vacant over the landscape for many more decades. Using clever ways to bring the systems online gradually the property went from total vacancy to 35% occupancy in one year despite a global pandemic striking just after the acquisition of the property.
The Langer Co worked with state and local governments to bring attention to the property and together with Washington County embarked on a revitalization project. We attracted several new tenants right after closing and even monetized outdoor space attracting several manufacturing and distribution tenants.
One of the challenges was that there weren’t enough dock high doors to attract logistics tenants. The Langer Company used vision and ingenuity to devise a plan to create a finger docking system that would allow for over 100 additional docs while still preserving the irreplaceable and gargantuan original hangar doors.
Additionally, Michael Langer was able to utilize his real estate background together with his experience and know-how building Gulliver’s Gate to help bring The Hagerstown Aviation Museum to reality. The Hagerstown Aviation Museum had been seeking a home in the county for 30 years; a dream that The Langer Company helped bring to fruition. By working with the museum president and helping bring on new talent the museum leased the historic dome hangar bringing the Fairchild Centric Museum back home to the place where it all began. This endeavor took bravery, vision, a can-do attitude and a unique set of experience that only The Langer Company could have provided.
Using this and other techniques, The Langer Company added $20 Million in value to the property in just over a year! With many other ideas in store this property will fill up and be fully restored to its former glory in Hagerstown.
