Jacoby buys second Ford plant

Atlanta-based Jacoby Development has bought a second shuttered Ford plant.

Ford Motor Co. announced Friday that Jacoby had completed the purchase of the Norfolk Assembly Plant property in Norfolk, Va.

Jacoby previously had purchased the former assembly Ford plant in Hapeville, near the Atlanta airport.

After buying the Norfolk plant, Jacoby immediately sold a portion of it to Belgium-based Katoen Natie, a global logistics company that plans to develop a $12 million distribution facility.

In a statement, Jim Jacoby called the Katoen facility an “economic anchor that allows us to turn our attention to the sort of renewable energy-related manufacturing that will take advantage of the area’s strong labor force.”

The former Ford plant is the largest privately-owned, industrial property in that city and is near Norfolk’s port, the statement said. The Jacoby project will be called Virginia Renaissance Center. Ford did not disclose terms of the sale.

The Norfolk assembly plant opened in 1925 and built some of Ford’s best-known vehicles, including the Model T and the F-150 pick up truck. It closed in 2007.

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