A coffee machine company that has chosen Burlington as the new location for its business plans to begin moving in next January.
Keurig, subsidiary of Vermont-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, announced this past Tuesday that it is relocating to a new campus on South Avenue.
The company, which currently leases 155,000 square feet in Reading, Wakefield, and Woburn, will be consolidating its operations at the South Avenue site, where it plans a two-phase renovation and expansion project.
This past Wednesday, work began on the project’s first phase, which calls for renovating and adding to an existing 70,000-square-foot building at 63 South Ave., according to Keurig spokeswoman Molly Kelley. She said Keurig plans to begin relocating to the newly expanded space next January and to have it fully occupied by next April.
In a second phase of the project, the company plans to construct two new buildings. When that work is complete, Keurig will have an overall facility of 494,000 square feet, or more than three times its current space.
“It was essential to find a location that could support our current and anticipated growth.”
The announcement by Keurig, which manufactures single-cup brewing systems, follows a Town Meeting vote last month approving a tax break to support the relocation.
The tax increment financing agreement would go to the property owner, the Gutierrez Co., but the tax benefit would be passed on to Keurig through its lease payments. Such a deal exempts a firm for a specified time from taxes on the increased value of a property resulting from its investment.
The state’s Economic Assistance Coordinating Council on Tuesday is set to consider approval of the local tax agreement, and to act on Keurig’s application for a state investment tax credit for the project.
The town conservatively estimates that over its 15-year term, the tax agreement would save Keurig $3.3 million, and that the company’s investment would generate $6.1 million in additional real estate taxes and $1.7 million in added fees for the town.
“Based on the continued growth of our business . . . it was essential to find a location that could support our current and anticipated growth,” Michelle Stacy, president of Keurig, said in a prepared statement.
Kelley said by e-mail that Keurig, which now employs 519 people, would not speculate on its future hiring plans. But she said the new facilities would “provide room for growth as needed.”
Walter Zenkin, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, called Keurig’s decision “fantastic” news. “It’s a great company. Burlington is looking forward to having them here,” he said.