HPM Selected As Program Manager For New Buffalo Rock Expansion

BIRMINGHAM, AL —A Birmingham based firm will oversee Buffalo Rock’s $75 million renovation of a warehouse and office facility, the soft drink distributor’s largest infrastructure investment to date.

HPM has been selected as the program manager for Buffalo Rock’s 1 million-square-foot expansion, which includes the renovation of an 895,000-square-foot warehouse and an approximately 120,000-square-foot office building. HPM’s Senior Program Development Manager Bruce Quisno and Project Manager Jeremiah Owen will oversee the project on behalf of the client.

Buffalo Rock acquired the properties located at 400 Industrial Drive and 800 Lakeshore Drive earlier this year and recently announced plans for the massive expansion, which includes a $75 million investment in new technologies, infrastructure improvements and property renovations, leading to the creation of up to 50 new jobs in the initial phase of the project. As part of a strategic growth initiative to expand over the next decade, these state-of-the-art upgrades will double Buffalo Rock’s output, provide 90 loading docks, reduce the number of touches and improve efficiencies.

This office acquisition will significantly improve employee experience, increase productivity and allow for future growth. The renovated facilities are expected to be operational by the fall of 2021. Hoar Construction and GMC have partnered to be the lead Design-Build team for the project.

“Our team selected HPM for many reasons, but most notably because they demonstrated the ability to offer a full suite of planning solutions that carried us from acquisition to operation, and we couldn’t be happier with their performance at this stage of the journey,” said Matthew Dent, Buffalo Rock President and Chief Operating Officer. “We are not only moving with speed, but we are considering all options and addressing budget questions in real time as we bring this campus restoration to life. I am confident our employee-partners will love the experience this investment creates, and I am certain our customers will see the benefits this investment brings them in terms of service and quality.”

Buffalo Rock first tapped HPM to oversee programming and planning for the initial stages of the project. HPM led site analysis efforts, including a site assessment involving environmental studies and the hiring of consultants to perform upfront due diligence, which ultimately enabled Buffalo Rock to purchase the property.

By performing a cost analysis and identifying which areas of the project to prioritize, HPM helped Buffalo Rock and its partners identify and control costs in planning, condensing the overall project timeline.

Headquartered in Birmingham, Buffalo Rock Company is one of the largest single-family privately owned Pepsi-Cola bottlers. The company, started by the Lee family in 1901, operates 14 distribution centers in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, servicing a population of more than 6.5 million.