Former Ethan Allen Plan
Sold in Randolph
By M. D. Drysdale

The former Ethan Allen furniture plant on Hull Street, Randolph’s largest industrial property, at 175,000 square feet, was sold Tuesday by J.D. Properties to Malone Properties of Montpelier, a sizeable real estate development firm.

James Dwinell of Randolph, owner of J.D. Properties, purchased the empty building in 2003 and in the years since, he has rented parts of the space out to some 40 different tenants, managing to keep the building half to two-thirds full.

His tenants have included high tech companies like LED Dynamics, Inc. (see separate story) to the Randolph Union High School baseball team, which set up an off-season batting cage there.

"I think we proved that an incubator such as ours, where we have a lot of varied spaces for office and light industrial uses, can work in Randolph," Dwinell said.

"I think we served and met a community need and it’s been good for the town."

It hasn’t been particularly good for his own pocketbook, Dwinell admitted. He paid $950,000 for the building in 2003 and sold it for $1,165,000, but lost a considerable amount on the venture after set-up and financing costs.

Dwinell will continue to own Nantucket Post Cap, a manufacturer of various wood products for landscaping. That company is "thriving," he said, and has eight employees.

Dwinell predicted that the new owner will make the former furniture plant even more of an asset for Randolph. Malone Properties, owned by Patrick Malone of Montpelier, is involved in commercial real estate, leasing, and development.

Malone has been doing this kind of work all his life, Dwinell said and "can bring it to a new level. He has more experience than I. That will bode well for the town and jobs opportunities."

"He’s a serious real estate player," he concluded.

In a conversation with The Herald, Malone, who grew up in the Barre/Montpelier area, said the firm has been in business for about 20 years and deals in properties mostly in the central Vermont and Burlington areas.

For instance, it built the new home of Cabot Creameries on Route 302 in Montpelier and leased it back to Cabot .

The size of the Ethan Allen building is what caught his eye, Malone said. "You don’t get a lot of buildings this size under one roof," he said.

He said his first moves are likely to build more interior partitions to give each business more security and privacy, and to add better insulation.

He is more willing and able than most commercial owners, he said, to spend money on fit-up for new tenants, and to offer long-term lease arrangements that are more economical.