This building has stood empty for the better part of a decade and to me that’s just mystifying. It has been used for light manufacturing twice in its life, once by 3M and once by Ryt-way, but apparently its useful life is stalled. There is endless talk in our community of “no commercial space available”, “we’re out of land”, “there’s no room to expand”, etc. and yet, here’s a 63,000 square foot facility that’s been vacant for the entire 21^st century (and more). Why is that?

There is a vigorous effort currently going on by the Economic Development Authority and others to recruit new businesses to Northfield. I wonder if this facility is part of the discussion. After all, there is no need to spend piles of money to bring city services to the site to make it functional for a future tenant . . . it’s already on the grid!

For the curious, the former Ryt-way building is located at 1407 Armstrong Road. It has large parking areas on both the east and west sides of the building and two loading docks for access. I do not know what the asking price is for the property, but that shouldn’t be hard to find out. I believe that there’s land across the road that’s for sale by the same party. Let’s send an emissary to investigate the needs of the seller soon.

By the way, I think it would be great if the Chamber of Commerce website showed pictures of all the properties that are listed as available business sites. Right now, it feels like the classified section of the newspaper, rather than a showcase of available opportunities.