Building back with family

HANOVER TWP. — When the former Dove Industries Building went on the market, Charles “Bud” Reilly Jr. knew he and his brother could put it to good use.

They were familiar with the Sans Souci Parkway property through their father, Charles. “Dad owned the building in the ’70s and early ’80s,” said Charles “Bud” Reilly. He sold it to Dove, which manufactured windows on site until it closed last August.

The brothers’ company, Sportsmen Acquisitions LP, bought it for $1.1 million in February and quickly began to fill the 200,000-square-foot building.

Initially they planned to store materials for their businesses in it. Reilly, of Fort Fort, owns Air Excellence. His brother Joe owns Reilly Finishing Technologies in Nanticoke. Within a week of the purchase, they leased space to someone else and they have room for others.

The property’s location is ideal for companies that need warehouse space in the Wyoming Valley rather than in the outlying industrial parks. It also is located within a short drive of Interstate 81, Reilly said.

The circumstances of how the property became available saddened Reilly. Dove laid off 106 employees here and 52 more in Virginia last summer because it could not obtain financing to continue those operations. The company had relocated to Hanover Township from the Philadelphia area. It expanded and opened a manufacturing plant in Pulaski County, Va., in 2010.

The Reilly brothers negotiated with owners Bruce Dove and Eric Dovman for the property.

“We got a pretty good deal” and paid a fair price, more than what the sellers were asking, Reilly said.

He commended the previous owners for taking care of the building and investing in a new roof, lighting and heating, ventilation and air conditioning. “It’s super clean,” Reilly said.