LAWTON – The Comanche County Industrial Development Authority is giving Cosmetic Specialty Labs more time to repay its loan.
The CCIDA voted unanimously Oct. 15 to extend for another six months the board’s deferral agreement with CSL President Jennifer Ellis, who announced earlier this year that the company was suspending manufacturing.
The original deferral agreement, which was approved in March, required Ellis to pay the authority approximately $206,000 plus interest when the company closed on the sale of its property but no later than Sept. 18. The extension gives Ellis until April 2025 to repay the loan.
“That will be our semiannual meeting in April,” said CCIDA attorney Mike Mayhall. “Hopefully, we will have been paid or, if not, we can talk about it again.” Loan repayment A little over four years ago, CCIDA loaned Cosmetic Specialty Labs $272,000, as evidenced by a promissory note and a second mortgage on the company’s property. The company still owes CCIDA about $206,000 plus accrued interest, calculated at 3% per year.
Ellis has listed the building for sale for about $2.9 million, said CCIDA Chairman Paul Ellwanger.
“As of three weeks ago, she had interested parties in looking at it, but she didn’t have any interested buyers at this time,” he said.
Ellwanger said a 2017 appraisal of the property valued it at approximately $2.6 million, so he felt CSL had enough equity to satisfy the first and second mortgages on the loan.
Mayhall said the company has made several improvements to the property since 2017, which would boost its value. He added that Ellis and her family are anxious to sell the property, and the loan will be repaid when the property is sold.
“The bank’s going to get paid and we’re going to get paid, and they’re going to have some equity once it happens,” he said.