[rpavideo caption= “In this video Jason Kostura reports on a property purchase by a well known floral firm and how this deal means an extra payday for the city of Kent.”]Kostura_Story7[/rpavideo]

 Smithers-Oasis is a floral firm that produces water-absorbing floral foam, a product monopolized by the company, and soon to be manufactured again in Kent. Smithers-Oasis has always had a presence in Kent, but a purchase of the old AMETEK Inc. facility on Lake Street carries benefits both for the company and for the city of Kent. Reporter Jason Kostura examines the deal and how it affects the city’s finances. Reporter Rachel Campbell looked at the history of the Lake Street building, and talked with AMETEK for the company’s opinion of the purchase of its old property.

From Electronic Instruments to Floral Foam

Flower foam will be blooming in a new location in Kent now that Smithers-Oasis, a worldwide flower firm, has purchased a property on Lake Street formerly belonging to AMETEK Inc., and designated it its new manufacturing headquarters.

Kent City Council unanimously voted and approved the sale of the property formerly owned by AMETEK, a global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices, at 627 Lake St. Sept. 4, which would allow Smithers-Oasis to return to its manufacturing roots in Kent.

Tree City Beginnings

According to the company’s website, Smithers-Oasis got its start when V.L. Smithers pondered the ability to add water into the foam acting as the base of a flower arrangement. His brainstorming led to the creation of Oasis standard floral foam and his first production facility in Kent in 1954.

Kent was chosen as the initial site of the company because it was close to truck transportation lines that began in Akron, which was also where Smithers’ other endeavor, an independent testing laboratory for the tire and battery industries under the name V.L. Smithers Laboratories, was located.

The Kent headquarters went down in flames in 1961 due to the poor wiring of the building. Plants were then built in Canada and Denmark in 1962 and 1963 respectively. The current location of the headquarters has been Cuyahoga Falls since 1992, but the company also has manufacturing buildings in “Belgium, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, and through third-party licensing arrangements in South Africa and Brazil,” according to its website.

Past and Present Day Purchases

The land located at 627 Lake St. was owned by an unknown person in May 1998 before being sold to Lamb Electric at no cost. Lamb Electric then sold the land and its five properties to AMETEK Aerospace Products Inc. for $5.1 million dollars that same month according to the Portage County Auditor’s website.

AMETEK Aerospace Products Inc. owned the land and its properties until May 2010 when it transferred ownership to AMETEK Inc. with a Quietclaim Deed, which is released by the grantor—who in this case was AMETEK Aerospace Products Inc. A quietclaim deed “passes any title, claim or interest that the grantor has in the premises but does not make a representation as to the validity as such title,” although, it is still listed as a valid sale on the Portage County Auditor’s website.

A year-and-a-half later in January 2012, the city of Kent acquired the AMETEK Inc. property through a Warranty Deed, which “transfers real property from one person to another in which the grantor promises that title is good and clear of any claims,” but it was not listed as a valid sale.

Future Plans

The most recent sale to Smtihers-Oasis has not been documented on the auditor’s website, but according to City of Kent Community Developer Director Bridget Susel, the property was purchased by Smithers-Oasis for $120,000.

Smithers-Oasis moved its headquarters back to Kent at the end of September by relocating to the second floor of the Fairmount Properties building that also houses the Davey Resource Group and Panini’s Bar and Grill at 295 S. Water St.

In addition to the new addition downtown and on Lake St., Smithers-Oasis’ development building has been located at 919 Marvin St., which is half a mile away from the soon-to-be manufacturing buildng.

Smithers-Oasis claims that they plan to have $2,000,000 in payroll for the workers of the new manufacturer building, which will result in $70,000 in income tax for the city of Kent.

AMETEK has another Kent location–directly across the street from Smithers-Oasis’ new corporate headquarters–at 100 E. Erie St. that specifically goes by the name AMETEK’s Prestolite Motors.

AMETEK was not able to be reached for comment on the sale of the new property or how it will affect their company in the long-run.