An Allentown family business, a mainstay for more than 60 years, is no more.
John Ramsay, owner of Ramsay Machine Development at 527 N. Madison St., sold his property to a New York investment firm with other holdings in the Lehigh Valley.
The Allentown provider of manufacturing services and manufacturer of custom-built machinery has been operating at the same facility for more than 60 years.
John Crampsie, principal of NAI Summit of South Whitehall Township, and Sarah Finney, assistant vice president, represented John Ramsay in the sale. The buyer, Share Investments LLC represented itself, Finney said. Warren Share and David Matos are the owners of the property.
The property covers a half-acre parcel and sold for $425,000, Tinney said. It includes a 6,000-square-foot industrial building and 4,500-square-foot warehouse.
The buyer will use the building for a startup electronics-related firm that is going to remanufacture and distribute electric automotive parts, she said.
“With the emotional attachment on the seller’s side, I think he was glad to see the building go to someone who has a strong passion to bring this back to life,” Tinney said.
Share said the business, to be called Allentown Auto Electric, would be a wholesale competitor that will re-manufacture old starters and alternators and sell them to the repair shop community, mainly in Allentown and Bethlehem.
The company is refurbishing the building and will open the business by spring.
“We are also going to use part of the facility as a repair shop,” Share said. “We saw a market that was underserved. We would just offer starters and alternators, doing the remanufacturing ourselves, bringing some manufacturing back to Allentown.”
