ST. LOUIS — Volpi Foods has broken ground on a 87,000-square-foot expansion of its processing plant in Union.
The speciality meat producer has tapped Swansea-based Holland Construction Services for the build out of a two-story meat slicing and packaging plant at 20 Progress Drive in Union that will connect to Volpi's current prosciutto processing plant.
Volpi President Lorenza Pasetti said in a release that the company is maintaining its current location in The Hill neighborhood in St. Louis city and that its expansion in Union is to accommodate company growth.
No investment cost was disclosed. The project is expected to be complete by summer 2021.
Earlier this spring, Volpi Foods confirmed it was hiring additional employees for its current Union facility as well its St. Louis city location. A spokeswoman declined to share specifics on its expansion including how many employees it will hire. The company employs about 220 people. Revenue also wasn't disclosed.
Volpi, through its Epicure LLC, acquired the 30-acre Union property in 2015 from the city. Its initial development there, including its prosciutto processing plant, was a roughly $50 million project. The city of Union approved 15 years of tax abatement for the property, according to government documents.
There's no specific data on the industrial market in Franklin County, but St. Louis has a 5.1% vacancy rate and an average asking rent of $4.11 per square foot, according to the latest JLL data.
