Automotive Group, Warehouse Filling Vacant Delaware County Sites

MUNCIE, Ind. – Two vacant Delaware County locations, one along McGalliard Road and one on Washington Street, will soon be operating again.

A new Muncie automotive group will soon find its place in a former Ford dealership, and the old City Machine Tool & Die building will receive a major update as it becomes a warehouse and distribution facility for a local company.

Here’s a rundown of the companies coming in:

RightDrive takes over former Ford site

Texas-based automotive group RightDrive will be relocating to Hubler Ford’s former location at 2001 E. McGalliard Road.

The group specializes in used vehicles of recent models, from small economy cars to luxury models, including Maserati, Lexus, Range Rover and trucks; which are all acquired through local, state and national sources.

Although based in El Paso, RightDrive has local roots, as CEO Jay Welsh was born in Winchester and raised in the Farmland area.

“My family is made up of third generation farmers in the Ridgeville and Farmland area,” Welsh said. “I am very happy to bring RightDrive to my home country.”

Welsh and his team launched RightDrive in 2018 with four cars on a small lot. Now they have multiple locations in Texas and have grown into one of the leading independent used car dealers in El Paso, just behind CarMax, Welsh said.

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Welsh told The Star Press that he hopes the Muncie location will be up and running by early October and that he expects to house 150 to 250 vehicles on the ground. Hours will likely be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., but hours of service may differ.

RightDrive customers can purchase online or in the field.

“We don’t employ salespeople, only sales and finance managers who are very effective at communication and provide an amazing and fast experience,” said Welsh. “The average time a customer will spend buying a car from RightDrive is 30 to 45 minutes. “

RightDrive is also heavily involved in the community, and in El Paso, the automotive group has donated vehicles to students, mothers and others in need.

While the auto industry has been hit hard by COVID-19, Welsh said as a used dealership, RightDrive has not been negatively impacted as much as vehicle franchises.

“While this has forced used vehicle prices to rise overall, our in-house purchasing team is constantly scouring national markets and finding the best vehicles possible at the lowest prices,” said Welsh.

As RightDrive prepares to open its Muncie branch, the automotive group will soon be looking to hire. More information can be found at rightdriveauto.com/muncie once the website is up and running, probably early next week.

“I am ecstatic,” Welsh said. “We anticipate Muncie to be ‘the nerve center’ and will most likely be implanted in other areas of Indiana in the future.”

North Central Industries to transform a former industrial site

North Central Industries, a longtime Delaware County fireworks importer and company, is working to transform the old City Machine Tool & Die building into a modernized warehouse and distribution facility.

According to a statement, the company plans to invest at least $ 2.5 million in the dilapidated property, which will make it a new revitalized commercial site.

City Machine’s proprietary property at 1302 E. Washington St. was established in 1935 and closed in 2007.

North Central Industries will strip the old City Machine “down to I-beams and rebuild it into a modern warehouse,” according to North Central’s proposal to redevelop the property. Ten full-time jobs and 20 part-time jobs will be created by the project, and the average hourly wage will be $ 18 to $ 25, plus benefits.

On August 31, the East Central Indiana Regional Planning District approved North Central Industries as a winning respondent for the property located at 1302 E. Washington St. North Central Industries told the board regional planning that he intended to use project.

“As chairman of the Delaware County Commissioners, I can say we’ve seen incredible value working with the East Central Indiana Regional Planning District. Director Bill Walters and his organization have had remarkable success in ensuring that many of the county’s long-standing tax crime horrors are reallocated to viable end-users, ”Commissioner James King said in the statement. “We are continuing the work and are excited to revisit another site on tax rolls and redevelopments by a large local company like North Central Industries.

According to the statement, the property’s environmental concerns are being addressed by The Elam Group, which has submitted a work plan to IDEM and has received preliminary approval to proceed.

North Central Industries has already rehabilitated two local warehouses, also along Washington Street, with the new facility located just two blocks from these sites.

The company expects its new building to be completed and operational by 2023.

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Charlotte Stefanski is a reporter for The Star Press. Contact her at 765-283-5543, [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @CharStefanski.