Amessna Corp’s 24,000-square-foot facility in Hickson represents ‘Big Potential’ says Ronda Stewart, Economic Development Director with Rural Oxford Economic Development.
Amessna is a family-owned property management company compiling its moniker from Kevin and Claudia Weeden’s three daughters’ first names: Amanda, Jessica and Fiona. Its homage to multi-generational continuity is echoed in its origins. Kevin originally worked together with his father at Hybrid Turkeys, and then continued his father’s legacy with Weeden Sprinkler Systems in Tavistock, and subsequently, Weeden Environments in the early 2000s after patenting their poultry sprinkler system for cooling, dust control and activity promotion, that is presently sold globally.
In 2007, Kevin and Claudia’s company, Amessna Corp purchased the former John Deere Dealership/Cafe 59 in Hickson and after renovations to the Cafe, moved Weeden Environments to that location. It included an ‘overbuilt’ septic system and subsequently, a roof-mounted solar array. In 2015, they built a second 14,000 square foot warehouse/feed store/office on the property, with an agri-business currently operating from that location. The unique combination carries equally-unique commercial/industrial zoning and servicing opportunity.
“The property offers a rare level of flexibility, with the infrastructure and zoning already in place to support a wide range of future uses,” said Weeden’s son-in-law Tyson Zehr.
Acquiring appropriate zoning to facilitate business development in rural areas can be challenging says Stewart, a potentially lengthy process followed by an additional construction period. The 596202 Highway 59 property is attractive in that both requirements are already in place.
“It’s very uncommon in a rural setting,” Stewart emphasized.
County Line Equipment, an agricultural equipment company, now occupies the former Cafe at the front of the building, 4,000 square feet of heated, finished office and warehouse space. The remaining 20,000 square feet of insulated, heated warehouse with 20-foot ceilings, has 3 phase power, and is flexible, in that while one tenant could access its entirety, it is all interconnected into three separate units.
“We have the ability to accommodate up to four individual tenants,” said Zehr.
A 6,000-square-foot space lies behind County Line’s area, essentially a warehouse, Zehr says, which features a large roll door and man door. There is a second 4,000-square-foot unit behind that. There is no roll door, however office and washroom space along with a finished entrance and green paint harken back to its former life as a farm dealership showroom.
“It still has the potential to function as a storefront,” said Zehr.
These two areas are undergoing what Kevin Weeden referred to as ‘minor cosmetic surgery’, traces of green disappearing under fresh touch up and paint. In contrast, spaces four and five have experienced ‘a full-on face lift’ The fourth, largest at 8,000 square feet, is now insulated with new steel cladding and radiant heat has been installed. It has a roll door to space five, a 2,000-sqare-foot access and staging facility featuring a loading dock able to service semi-trucks as well as a loading ramp with 12-foot roll door.
“What makes this building valuable is it can be anything,” said Weeden’s other son-in-law Derek Hyde.
The property also has space for future growth.
“At present, we have 20,000 square foot warehouse ready to go, and the ability to build to suit where we have land capacity to build an additional 20,000 square feet on top of that. We also have a yard beside the warehouse with the room to park 15 Tractor Trailers,” says Hyde.
“This property is the closest to shovel ready you’ll find in Rural Oxford.” Stewart adds.
Beyond its physical attributes, the term ‘location, location, location’ can be applied to the property, located right on Highway 59 in Hickson, ten minutes from Woodstock and highways 401/403 access, 20 from Stratford and a half-hour from each London and Waterloo.
“Its location places you in the heart of Southwestern Ontario, with convenient access across the region,” said Zehr.
That understanding of proximity to opportunity is embedded into Amessna’s DNA, a company whose roots and future are firmly anchored in the area.
“Our kids live in Oxford County,” Weeden concluded. “We want to bring more business to Oxford County and our family is ready to do that.”