A company controlled by the Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment group has purchased the former Modern Plastics property in Benton Harbor.

The seven parcels at 489 North Shore Drive in Benton Harbor total approximately 10-and-a-half acres and sold at Berrien County’s recent tax auction for the asking price of $752,468. The property was auctioned by Berrien County due to delinquent property taxes from the previous owner in that same amount. Legally, the purchaser of the property is MP2024, LLC, an entity created specifically for this purchase. There were no other bidders.

Chris Cook, President of Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment, said the purchase is a “sizable event” and the group wanted the property so that they could make sure it could be turned into a good thing for the community.

“Harbor Shores has done a lot of good in the community in the past, and so it made sense for that entity to be involved in the purchase of that (property).”

Cook said even before the property purchase, they conducted an environmental review that looked at the historical nature of the site.

“In having our environmental consultant go through that work, we felt comfortable that we could go ahead with the purchase at that point.”

Now begins the next phase of environmental work. Cook said that will take 30 to 45 days and once that assessment is complete, they will work with the City of Benton Harbor, the State of Michigan, and the Environmental Protection Agency to determine next steps.

There is a demolition order by the City of Benton Harbor to raze the factory within 180 days. Government officials say previous environmental testing on the property confirmed contamination from past operations.

“Our expectation is that the building would then be demolished and any cleanup would be done and then we can kind of determine from there what we can do with the property.”

While the land is contaminated to an unknown extent, the land straddles existing Harbor Shores Golf Course land and Ox Creek and has the potential, once remediated, to be prime real estate.

“It’s a relief to have it in our hands so that we can clean it up. And one of the first things we intend to do is cut back some of the growth and clean up the perimeter of the property and then work on the demolition and the other events after that.”

Asked what development options the Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment group is looking at, Cook said it really depends on how much there is to cleanup.

“It really is dependent on the environmental work. We’re hopeful that we can do some residential there, but again it’s going to remain to be seen.”