NEW MEXICO (January 4, 2011)—U.S. Foodservice Inc. will hold a groundbreaking for its new regional 125,000-square-foot headquarters at 2 p.m. Wednesday at 3700 Prince St. SE. Art De La Cruz, District 2 Bernalillo County Commissioner will be among some 50 community leaders and executives invited to attend.
Construction started three weeks ago on the 42.8 acre site that will cost $24 million to develop. That cost includes the $3.5 million land acquisition, according to John Szurek, Albuquerque division president. The site is less than one mile from I-25 in the South Valley, enabling quick freeway access for the company's fleet of 45 refrigerated trucks.
“We are now working 20-hour shifts to keep to our construction schedule and meet our end of September completion. We hope to move in by Nov. 1. The new building will give us upwards of 80,000 square feet of cold storage. In our leased space, we had slightly more than 35,000 square feet,” Szurek said.
The construction team is headed by Wisconsin-based ESI Constructors but 80 percent of the crews will be local, Szurek said. Aztec Mechanical and Allied Engineering and Design are among the local firms working on the project.
The plant will serve New Mexico, El Paso and southern Colorado. Its top clients include Presbyterian Health Care Group, the University of New Mexico Hospital Group and the army base at Fort Bliss in El Paso in addition to many restaurants. Szurek estimates his work force will grow 20 percent over the next five years. There are more than 125 employees at the leased location at 5600 2nd St. NW. The lease expires there at the end of November.
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