SACRAMENTO - Eight months after Campbell's Soup shut down its aging Sacramento plant, hundreds of pieces of equipment that were used to make soup, juice and spaghetti sauce went on the auction block.
Shira Weissman of Rabin asset disposition said the three-day auction, which began Tuesday, was expected to generate as much as $9 million.
"Anyone in the food manufacturing or processing business will probably be attending our sale either on site or online," she said.
Nate Ellis of Hackman Capital Partners, which purchased the 126-acre site in partnership with Rabin, said the former soup plant was being re-branded as Capital Commerce Center.
Tax records indicate the partnership bought the property in December for just under $15 million, but Ellis said he was unable to confirm the figure. The property was assessed in 2013 at more than $130 million.
Five on-site wells provide up to seven million gallons of water per day and sewer credits allow the plant to discharge up to 160 million gallons of wastewater per year, which Ellis said would be attractive to food processors.
Among those who have expressed interest in the 1.6 million square-foot plant are an Italian dog food maker and a Southern California-based company that would create an indoor fish farm.
Ellis said although it was possible they could find one large tenant to take over, it was more likely they would divide the 1946-vintage building to accommodate a number of smaller tenants.
Ellis said the partnership is also planning to build eight acres of retail space along Franklin Boulevard.
