Two years ago, the threat of a surge in vacant industrial buildings loomed across Michigan as annual automotive production dropped by millions per year and the industry adjusted by cutting capacity.

It ended up not just being OEM capacity - the trickle-down also hit suppliers, resulting in a glut of industrial vacancy.

By mid-year, newly listed industrial space coming onto the Metro Detroit market was 4.2 million square feet more than was leased during that timeframe.

Many of us wondered: What would ever fill all of those vacant buildings - especially the largest of them, the former factories that spanned dozens of acres?

The vacancies are still out there. But today, there’s a wave of sales and leasing in industrial property. And Ypsilanti is benefitting from it, thanks to news that the city's largest factory was sold in mid-December.

Ypsilanti absorbed the pain of the industrial contraction two years earlier, learning the 1-million-square-foot former Visteon plant along I-94 was slated to close.

The former factory’s shutdown in 2008 impacted the city through lost jobs and lost tax base. And efforts to replace both - in the form of a new user or investor to buy the building - stalled as the global financial crisis took hold.

Amid that, few people in Michigan likely predicted a rebound in industrial real estate. The outlook for some of the largest former factories - like the shuttered site in Ypsilanti - may have seemed most dim.

But despite all odds, Washtenaw County got a chance to celebrate a real estate victory last week when a buyer emerged for the 76-acre property in Ypsilanti, most recently owned by Automotive Components Holdings.

The site - described as dated and functionally obsolete, thanks to its age - wasn’t the most likely site to sell in 2009.

Deals for two other ACH-owned former Visteon plants in Washtenaw County fell apart in 2008, and ACH chose to resume production.

The buyer of the Ypsilanti plant, a division of Taylor-based Angstrom USA, had plenty of options to consider: At least 30 other buildings were toured before the deal took hold.

In the end, its location, size and asking price of $7.5 million combined to make the factory appealing enough to persuade Angstrom officials to sign the deal.

Interestingly, there were other suitors for it, too. Ypsilanti City Planner Richard Murphy said the property attracted up to a dozen “reasonably serious looks” over the last year.

Brad Viergever, a commercial real estate broker at Signature Associates in Southfield who represented Angstrom in the deal, said there’s significant activity in today’s industrial market.

“People are taking advantage of opportunities,” Viergever said, “when there’s something that’s available at a low enough price and they can see the value or the upside.”

But, he cautioned: “Price is more critical to a deal than ever before.”

Lease rates and sale prices are falling from 25 percent to 50 percent off of 2007 prices, Viergever said. Even at that rate reduction, it’s only the marquee properties that are getting the bulk of the sales activity, he said.

In Ypsilanti, no one is saying what Angstrom paid for the property. Real estate experts estimate the sale price may have been under $4 million, well below the asking price.

It’s unclear what the Angstrom deal will mean to either the local jobs count or the tax base. The sale price will influence the taxable value.

And the local jobs count is undetermined, too. It may only be 100, at least to start, which is far fewer than the thousands that worked multiple shifts in the factory’s heyday.

Still, the impact is felt in the widespread positive reactions to the sale as the Ypsilanti community looks at the actual gains and the symbolism of seeing the major vacant parcel come off of the market.

Also important to the deal is the fact that the buyer was attracted to Washtenaw County, in part, because of the talent base here. That's a good sign some jobs moving into the plant, after renovations that start in early 2010, will be new hires.

“It will be a viable business again,” Murphy said. “…In a broader sense, it’s good news … (because) it shows activity and interest.”

Paula Gardner is Business Director for AnnArbor.com, where she covers real estate and development. Contact her by email or follow her on Twitter.