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Evergreen aviation campus in Oregon up for sale

The Columbian
Published: July 12, 2014, 12:00am

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) — The headquarters of the dissolving Evergreen aviation empire in Oregon’s wine country are for sale.

As a result of bankruptcy proceedings, the six buildings on the McMinnville campus have been listed, the Yamhill County News-Register reports.

Five are vacant, and one is occupied by the company that bought Evergreen’s helicopter business.

A broker, Ted Nicholson, said they can be had for $20 million as a package. The individual asking prices total $22.9 million.

The buildings are across Oregon Highway 18 from a destination well known to travelers in Yamhill County: the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, with its collection of significant, vintage and unusual aircraft, such as Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose.

The nonprofit museum plans to remain open.

The headquarters buildings were once the center of the business operations of Delford Smith, the founder of Evergreen who’s now in his 80s.

His companies were involved in helicopter services, baggage handling and global cargo transport, especially for military organizations.

As recently as March 2013, when Erickson Air-Crane Inc. bought the helicopter operation for $250 million, Evergreen was reported employing 360 people in McMinnville.

But it was flagging, having come up against the recession and slack demand for cargo services. It went into bankruptcy proceedings early this year.

A few months later, a judge approved the sale for about $5 million of assets of various Evergreen companies. Agricultural holdings not involved in the bankruptcy also have been sold off.

The headquarters campus is next.

Nicholson and his partner, Cory Lowe, would prefer to keep it intact. The buildings share sewer, water, power and Internet networks, but they can be partitioned to accommodate separate tenants, Nicholson said.

The campus includes a 13,500-square-foot hangar for Lear jets and 2,500 square feet of office space, as well as the building that Erickson occupies. The company hasn’t said whether it plans to buy the building.

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