AUBURN - The former Red Star Express office building and trucking terminal has been sold, marking the end of one era and the beginning of a new one.

Norstar Management, the purchaser of the property, includes James Currier, of Auburn, who owns about 70 percent of the construction management and storage equipment company. The property was purchased on Jan. 25 for $350,000.

Norstar intends to occupy about 60 percent of the property, according to Michael Cartner, chief financial officer for Currier Plastics Inc., and a small owner in Norstar.

“There is no plan for using the building as a manufacturing facility,” Cartner said. “A lot is based on what happens down the road in the next couple of years, depending on growth, although it might happen.”

Ownership of the property offers the company flexibility.

James Currier is also a principal in Currier Plastics, a custom injection and blow molder in Auburn, operated by his brother, John Currier, president. Norstar Management was established in

1993 and occupied a portion of the plastics building at 101 Columbus Street.

The 65,000-square-foot Red Star building, located at 34 Wright Ave., includes about 22,000 square feet of offices, with about 30,000 square feet for warehousing and truck bays making up the rest.

Situated on nine acres of land zoned for industrial use, the property falls within the New York Empire Zone, which allows purchasers a sales tax break of about 3 percent, according to Bouck Real Estate.

Currier said he bought the property because it is near the Currier Plastics site, becoming a natural extension of that property.

“It's nice to have somebody right in our backyard,” Cartner said.

Norstar Management moved over to the property as soon as the deal was closed, according to Cartner. It is now in the process of renovating the property, with a crew inside doing the necessary demolition work to remove damaged materials in drop ceilings, cleaning out and hooking up wiring and plumbing to make spaces useable.

“Jim is interested in sprucing up the building with renovation of a wooden planter, signs, and landscaping in the spring,” Cartner said.

“The buildings are in good condition and well located for warehousing as well as industrial office use,” Currier said, noting his intention to expand business relationships in the Auburn area.

“It was just a great fit for us, and we are looking forward to utilizing the space for ongoing productive businesses,” he said.

“It's one of those things where you have a piece of property that's no longer going to be dormant and dead anymore,” Cartner said.

The building has been vacant for the past four years.

Right now, some of the space is rented to Scott Saroodis for Pioneer Seed Co., and a dentist is using the warehouse to store a mobile dental unit. Bouck Real Estate will be responsible for leasing the facility.

The property's location near Routes 5 & 20 should make it attractive to potential businesses who wish to rent it.

The Red Star Express Lines started as a family business in 1932. The story goes that John Bisignano, later known as John Bisgrove, hauled sawdust in a small truck to meat markets, then established Red Star Express Lines, a large trucking company. It became a division of the Chicago-based USF group of regional carriers in 1986, when it was sold for $110 million. It was closed in May 2004 because of a labor dispute and strike involving Philadelphia office workers and the Teamsters Union.

Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net