FM Stone Commercial represented the seller in the sale of the former Burnstine distribution center building at 22365 Elkhart East Boulevard to the Feed The Children organization. The organization will relocate from the former Bayer campus, which is nearly 1 million square feet, to the newer 65,072-square-foot facility on 7.43 acres on the east side of the city. The city had gifted the former Bayer site to Feed The Children in 2003 for $1, and the organization decided to give the gift right back. But the gift back will be even greater—Feed the Children intends to pay to clear all the outdated buildings from the site which was originally built for Miles Laboratory in 1938.

“This is a great day for the city of Elkhart,” explained John Letherman, CCIM, with FM Stone Commercial who represented the seller in the purchase of the new facility. “Feed The Children iscommitted to reinvesting in the Elkhart community. It is going to take that 26-acre Bayer site and clear it back to a green space perfect for economic development. What we are ultimately going to have is a shovel-ready site with sewer, water, utilities and roads in place so the City of Elkhart will be able to respond quickly if a business wants to come in to the community.”

Last year Feed The Children distributed nearly 10 million pounds of food and supplies from Elkhart.“Elkhart has been very good to Feed The Children,” said Pete Sosenko, senior vice president of operations. “Vacating the antiquated and outmoded Bayer property and relocating to a more cost effective and functional facility was a tough yet necessary decision for our organization. We are committed to staying here and we applaud community leaders for working with us to find the best solution for our immediate and future needs.”