Another prominent Wichita property is now part of the Triple Crown Realty Trust

Triple Crown Realty Trust has added another Wichita property to its portfolio, and it’s a prominent one.

Thirteen of Chance Rides Manufacturing’s 19 acres at 4219 W. Irving — along the Kellogg Flyover just west of West Street — are now part of the trust.

“Instead of owning 100 percent of one building, I’ve got a smaller percentage of a much bigger and more diversified real estate portfolio,” owner Dick Chance said.

Triple Crown is known for its investment in the CrossGate District in south Wichita.

Lange Real Estate’s Jeff Lange is part of the trust and is a big developer in the CrossGate District. The area, which he named, is bordered by I-235 on the north, I-35 on the east and the Big Ditch on the west and south.

Lange said Triple Crown’s goal is to be 50% invested in the district and 50% outside of it, whether that’s in Wichita or elsewhere in the Midwest.

He said the Chance deal — which for Chance was an exchange of real estate and the assumption of debt for shares in Triple Crown— is significant for a couple of reasons.

“It’s a big deal to us because of our story beyond the CrossGate District,” Lange said.

“We are working with some landmark real estate facilities.”

Last year, Triple Crown acquired Terra-Cotta Tower at 29th North and Rock Road.

“And, of course, it’s a landmark just to have the Chance name as part of our team,” Lange said.

The deal came about in part through JR Custom Metal Products connecting Chance with Lange’s RedGuard, which manufactures blast-resistant buildings and containers.

“We were actually looking at doing some subcontract work for them,” Chance said.

The relationship evolved, and the Triple Crown deal resulted.

“Number one, it was a good opportunity for me to . . . get some liquidity out of the equity of my property,” Chance said. “It allowed us to downsize our space a little bit and consolidate some of our operations and become a little bit more efficient.”

RedGuard is now using some of the former Chance space to manufacture containers, and Chance is doing some of that work, too.

Though amusement rides such as trains, observation wheels and carousels are Chance Rides Manufacturing’s signature products, the company does other manufacturing as well.

Chance said his father, Harold, used to tell him, “Son, we can build anything.”

Harold Chance was a machinist who ran a shop for the Ottaway Amusement Co., which built miniature steam trains.

After the Ottaway family opened Joyland in 1949, it sold its other business to Chance a few years later. He started building C.P. Huntington Trains, changed the name of the company and moved it to the Irving address in 1960.

“That’s what really took off and got us into the amusement business,” Dick Chance said.

He said he thinks his father would approve of the Triple Crown deal.

“He would think it’s a great opportunity, really. He was a very practical businessman. He was a builder and manufacturer. It just happened to be he landed on amusement rides.”

Chance, who is 72, said his company is doing well and that the Triple Crown deal helps with succession planning.

Marlin Penner of John T. Arnold Associates represented Chance in the deal.

“It was a complicated transaction, but I’ll tell you everybody — I mean everybody — in this transaction was mindful of the needs of others,” Penner said. “There was truly an effort to do a win-win solution. You just saw it in every meeting. It was one of those textbook cases of cooperation.”

Penner said creating something good for both entities — helping Chance “right-size their company,” retain workers and explore new manufacturing, and giving Triple Crown another new investment opportunity — is good for Wichita, too.

“When good people work hard together, they can make good things happen.”

This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 4:47 AM.