Plans have been approved for a Switzerland-based company that creates compressor components for the natural gas, hydrogen and clean energy sectors to move its North American headquarters to an unincorporated area west of Delray Beach.
The company, Hoerbiger Corp. of America, will also build a manufacturing plant on 23 acres at the southeast corner of State Road 7 and West Atlantic Avenue. Its current national headquarters is in Pompano Beach.
Palm Beach County commissioners on Dec. 12 unanimously approved plans for a 197,000-square-foot, $60 million building that will operate 24 hours a day. More than 400 people are expected to work there, with annual salaries of more than $75,000.
Hoerbiger describes itself on its website as being “committed to meeting today’s demands without sacrificing a better, cleaner tomorrow.” It says it offers ways to save energy, decrease emissions and enable environmental change. It operates in 43 countries. It generated revenue of 1.416 billion euros in 2023 or nearly $1.5 billion.
Initially, the 23 acres were approved for a 300,000-square-foot industrial park.. Land was being cleared when, according to documents filed with the county, Hoerbiger approached the property owners, West Atlantic Business Plaza LLC, about purchasing the parcel and building a manufacturing plant on it. Hoerbiger currently has the site under contract.
Once a week, the plant will take delivery of large steel bars. They would then be processed into small compressors inside the plant and shipped out in smaller trucks.
What does an adjacent GL Homes community think of the plan?
Lauren McClellan of JMorton Planning & Landscape Architecture presented the plans to county commissioners. She noted that the Alliance of Delray Residential Associations was not opposed to the project.
The site is one of the few areas in the Agricultural Reserve that is zoned for industrial use. Several commercial and industrial uses have already been developed along the Atlantic Avenue corridor.
It backs up to Dakota, a gated, upscale residential community built in 2018. When the county held hearings in 2020 on applications to allow commercial and industrial development on the site, Dakota residents packed the meeting room, opposing development so close to their homes. They argued it would negatively affect their property values. No one from Dakota appeared at the recent public meeting to oppose the latest development plans.
The plant, according to McClellan, will be 250 feet from Dakota. She noted that all activity will be done within the interior of the plant. There will be a 12-foot wall and a landscape buffer of 70 feet. The steel beams will be brought into the facility only once a week.
County commissioners approved a land-use change to manufacturing from warehouse with accessory office buildings. They also allowed the company to operate 24 hours a day. County planners said they were concerned with a 24-hour operation, but commissioners nonetheless approved the request.
Hoerbiger, in its application, said many of its plants are in various time zones across the globe and that its staff will be processing orders and working similar hours to their counterparts across the world. The company noted there would be little, if any, traffic during the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. No deliveries would occur during that time or on weekends.
Kelly Smallridge, CEO of the county Business Development Board, said Hoerbiger “went out of its way to minimize the impact on Dakota.” She noted that the new plans will have much less of an impact that the one that was previously approved.
“We are talking about one building, one company,” she said. “The previous plan was for two warehouses with several tenants that would have generated much more traffic. And everything at Hoerbiger will be done inside the plant. Nothing outside.”
Smallridge said the project is what the county needs. There is a lack of manufacturing in the county, and this is one of the largest projects the Business Development Board has been involved with in recent years, she added.
SOURCE: Palm Beach Post Manufacturing company to build $60 million plant west of Delray Beach
