The main building isn’t in great shape. When they gathered together for a Tuesday, May 14 meeting, that was how Victoria Town Manager started the conversation with council on the work being done at the former STEPS property.

Work continues in the Town of Victoria on the Industrial Development Authority project, the old STEPS building. As Newton explained, the main building there is in bad shape and doesn’t meet the requirements for storage. With that in mind, the town is still working on a shelter to store pipes as long as 21 feet. As for the rest of the property, painting is taking place and work on the HVAC unit is scheduled to take place soon.

Set up in the old STEPS building, located at 300 Court Street in town, the idea has been to set aside 25,000 square feet to house up to four tenants. The divider wall, to split the section between tenants, has been built on what was formerly the production floor. And so far, that idea is progressing nicely. Newton said he hopes two of the tenants will be moved in by July 1. The third tenant would have been the town itself, using space for a maintenance shop, but as mentioned, there’s not enough space to store equipment.

Solution for STEPS property?

As a solution, the town plans to dismantle the old white storage building on site, to make room for a 140 x 40 storage building with about 10 bays. But council permission was needed for that, in order to use funds from the current budget. The plan would be to dismantle now and then purchase the equipment and storage shed. Council members took a vote and unanimously agreed.

Despite being overlooked for the Local Innovation Fund grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, the IDA began work on the former STEPS building after taking possession of the former manufacturing facility early in 2021.

The group discontinued using the former STEPS property more than three years ago. Before STEPS, the building initially housed Diemolding Corporation and Southern Virginia Plastics, both of which manufactured plastic components of cookware.