'We're happy to see that it's now been sold': Former Ford Plant site in Talbotville, Ont. has been purchased

Former Ford Plant site in Talbotville sold The site was put up for sale in 2015 for $22.75-million, who the buyer is remains a mystery. CTV London’s Brent Lale with details.

London, Ont. — At long last the site of the former Ford plant in Talbotville has been sold, but who the buyer is will remain a mystery, for now.

“It is has been sold, and I know there won’t be any announcement, unless the buyer cares to make an announcement at a future date,” said Peter Whatmore, senior vice-president for CBRE Southwestern Ontario said Friday.

The company CBRE was responsible for listing the site.

Whatmore was able to confirm the sale but was not able to say more at this time, including what the property sold for.

The site was put up for sale in 2015 for $22.75 million after it closed in 2011 leaving roughly 1,100 out of work or retired.

Elgin County Warden Tom Marks says he is excited to see something return to the site.

"Many of us, for two or three generations, had good incomes from there for a lot of years and that contributed greatly to the local economy, and that's what we are looking forward to have return. It has certainly been missed."

It's a sentiment echoed by St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston who says this is more than a regional story.

'It's a fantastic site from a transportation point of view - along the 401, and near the intersection to the 403, and able to travel to the United States. It's a fantastic industrial site, or commercial site."

In late May CTV News reported on speculation that Amazon was looking to buy the property.

At the time officials would not comment on the rumours and there has yet to be any confirmation.

However, Amazon is setting up two warehouses leased in the northeast end of London.

There have been potential deals and proposals for the site but none have come to fruition until now.

CTV News London reached out to Amazon for comment and recieved the following reply from Venessa Pontes, public relation specialist for Amazon:

"Amazon is a dynamic business and we are constantly exploring new locations and weighing a variety of factors when deciding where to develop future sites to best serve customers; however, we don't comment on our future roadmap.

"We're very excited to be growing our operations network and creating great jobs in Canada and look forward to keeping you updated with our plans."

When asked about who the pontential buy may be local officials could not comment, but did echo that it is good news for the region.

"We're happy to see that it's now been sold," said Preston. "This isn't a St. Thomas or Southwold story. This is a London, southwestern Ontario story."