Buster Brown facility sold, King's Trees moves to Quaker Meadows site

It’s 95 days until Christmas and people are already itching to put up their Christmas trees.

If you are one of the hundreds of locals who buy holiday trees, wreaths, and greenery from the King’s Trees lot at 833 N. Green St. in Morganton, be advised they have moved across the street to the old Quaker Meadows golf course site where prep work is already underway.

The move is a result of the property at 833 N. Green St. being sold to Benchmade Ventures LLC on Aug. 15. Once home to Buster Brown apparel manufacturing, the 37,823-square-foot facility closed operations in the 1970s leaving the building vacant since.

Benchmade Ventures LLC is a Mooresville-based investment and development company managed by Mike Kren of Mooresville and David Bennett of Morganton.

The firm’s portfolio of projects are several Burke County-based entities including Fairfield Inn & Suites in Morganton, Fonta Flora Brewery, Magnolia Hospitality, and Morganton Stuart Logistics.

The building was originally built in 1958. It is described as in a state of disrepair. Burke’s tax records state that a replacement building would cost $1.9 million; it lists the current value of the building at $152,904.

Burke County tax records list the property value at $699,604. The sale price was $665,000.