The remaining parcels of the troubled Starpointe Industrial Park in northern Washington County have been sold to a private developer, which hopes to begin selling lots soon to get more businesses to the site.

The Washington County Council on Economic Development, which has operated the industrial park since it opened in 2004, completed the three-way sale on Nov. 26 that resulted in ALTIAN Development LLC of Pennsylvania taking control of nearly 900 acres of developable property.

“It’s a prime location,” said Alex Paris, who is a partner in ALTIAN, which is a limited liability corporation created this year with the intention of purchasing Starpointe. “The goal is to get moving on everything right away. We’re really pleased to complete the sale and be able to continue developing the property as was intended.”

The sale was needed after WCCED faced a $11.193 million judgment for lack of payments for work performed by Independence Excavating Inc., and sheriff’s sales were scheduled on two occasions this summer but ultimately canceled. ALTIAN, which shares an Atlasburg address with Alex E. Paris Contracting but is not a subsidiary of the construction company, apparently was able to negotiate an agreement that allowed it to purchase the remaining parcels of Starpointe, although the final terms were not immediately known.

Rich Sahar, who serves as WCCED’s executive director, said the transaction with ALTIAN was an easy decision because he thinks Paris and his development company will be able to continue Starpointe’s original vision of attracting businesses to Washington County.

“Absolutely, Alex with their land development company and the physical ability to transform the landscape, it’s all under one house now,” Sahar said. “He knows a lot of people and is well liked, so I’m sure he can move it forward. Putting (Starpointe) in private hands, it’s a good thing.”

Sahar said they sold 18 parcels through a three-party transaction in which ALTIAN paid $4.75 million to his organization, although that basically acted as a pass-through payment to Independence Contracting. He said ALTIAN had a secondary agreement directly with Independence Contracting, although he was not informed on the financial terms of that transaction.

Property records at the county’s Recorder of Deeds office show the sale was signed Nov. 26 and recorded the following day. All of the parcels combined are assessed by the county at a taxable value of $2.93 million, and ALTIAN and WCCED each paid 1 percent property transfer taxes on an agreed-upon valuation of $4.049 million, according to the filing.

Paris declined to comment on the secondary agreement with Independence. However, now that the sale is finalized, he said ALTIAN will immediately be able to start selling properties and get much of the available 900 acres developed. He thanked the Washington County commissioners and the county’s chamber of commerce for their support through this effort as they work together to make the industrial park an economic driver for the region.

“We’re going to continue on. The park is going to continue on. A substantial part of the park has ready and available lots, and we’ll continue (developing) them in phases,” Paris said. “There is some residual property we have some vision for. There is a substantial amount of property that nothing has been done with, which we have to figure out. We’re looking at a lot of different stuff, and we have a lot of interest.”

He added that they came to an agreement with the Hanover Township Sewer Authority, which had previously raised concerns about what a sheriff’s sale or property transfer could mean for earlier agreements with WCCED.

“We have a resolution with Hanover sewer,” Paris said. “Our goal is to bring out as many customers to that industrial park as we can.”

Starpointe opened for development in October 2004 on 1,200 acres that straddle U.S. Route 22, mostly in Hanover Township, although some parcels are in Smith Township. The business park offers more land for larger industries and manufacturing companies compared to the mixed-use in Southpointe.