Client: Universal Display & Fixtures Company Lewisville, Texas
Annual Revenue: $41 million
Line of Business: Retail
Services: Property Tax
Client Contact:
John Phillips, Chairman
972-221-5022
A huge facility belonging to Universal Display & Fixtures Company hums with activity as employees manufacture steel wire, tubing, and other products. Shipping and warehousing also take place in that 97,000-square-foot building, which provides a safe and productive workplace. Such was not always the case, but thanks to an amazing transformation that began in 1997, the Lewisville company was able to expand its operational capabilities, increase its profits, and turn a run-down eyesore into a viable entity.
Weaver and Tidwell was on board from the start. Universal wanted to buy the property, which was right next door to their existing manufacturing building, but as an EPA Superfund contamination facility, it was fraught with problems. The previous owners had declared bankruptcy and abandoned about 15 years earlier. Working closely with Universal and its attorneys, Weaver and Tidwell negotiated with the bankruptcy court on the value of the property. They explain, “The past-due property tax was so big that nobody could afford to pay it. We were able to get the tax fairly assessed. Nobody had challenged it for a decade.”
Ironically, that decade of neglect produced a positive outcome: The chemicals and other contaminants in the building, where aluminum was painted, had dispersed enough over the years to deem it safe for human occupancy. Even so, says Weaver and Tidwell, “Buying the building was a risk. It was a leap of faith for Universal, but the owner, John Phillips, had confidence in us. The barriers to buying it were legion, but Mr. Phillips knocked them all down.”
Phillips is equally enthusiastic about Weaver and Tidwell and it's role in the building acquisition: “Weaver and Tidwell knows their business, knows the rules, knows the law and how to interpret it - and they don’t second-guess. Our property tax consultant shows up exactly when he says he will, and he will sit with us through these sometimes dull hearings and proceedings. He adds, “I’m very comfortable having him as part of our team. He always adds value.”
Weaver and Tidwell says that once the paperwork was in order, the rejuvenated facility was up and running within a year. It was a win-win situation for all, he says, adding, “Universal was able to buy a building at a fair price and turn an eyesore into a thriving, taxpaying location, and the Lewisville city fathers wanted it to happen, since they didn’t want an uninhabited, tainted building in their city.”
“Weaver and Tidwell knows their business, knows the rules, knows the law and how to interpret it - and they don’t second-guess. Our property tax consultant shows up exactly when he says he will, and he will sit with us through these sometimes dull hearings and proceedings. I’m very comfortable having Weaver and Tidwell as part of our team.”
John Phillips
Co-Chairman
Universal Display and Fixture