Uponor buys Hutchinson Technology building

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Plumbing pipe maker Uponor has seen demand increase so much for its products that it is purchasing a massive manufacturing building in Hutchinson, Minnesota, to keep up.

The Helsinki, Finland-based company said Thursday that it will pay $6.35 million for a 237,000-square-foot building at 45 Highland Park Drive NE in Hutchinson. The purchase price works out to $26.79 per square foot.

The facility was previously operated by Hutchinson Technology, a maker of digital storage components. Tokyo-based competitor TDK Corp. acquired Hutchinson Technology last October, according to TDK’s website.

Uponor has signed a purchase agreement for the Hutchinson property, and a closing is expected in August. Uponor’s operations will start in early 2019, according to an Uponor news release.

Uponor makes crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) tubing, which is used in plumbing, fire sprinklers, radiant heating and cooling, and hydronic systems, the company said.

Uponor already operates several manufacturing facilities in Minnesota, said company spokeswoman Ingrid Mattsson. It expanded its 404,538-square-foot manufacturing plant and U.S. headquarters in Apple Valley 10 times since 1990, she said. Uponor also will soon put $17.4 million into building another 58,000 square feet there, Finance & Commerce reported recently.

Mattsson said the Hutchinson purchase is intended to “diversify our manufacturing footprint.”

“Thanks to the unprecedented product demand as a result of continued growth in commercial and residential construction, we need more manufacturing space – even with our current expansion underway here right now,” she said in an email to Finance & Commerce.

Uponor will be “making investments in the building and equipment,” Mattsson said. She declined to specify how much the company would spend on those improvements.

Uponor also operates a 315,000-square-foot distribution center and resin-receiving facility in Lakeville. The company’s total Minnesota footprint will come to 956,538 square feet of space. Uponor employs more than 700 people in the state.

The city of Hutchinson’s Economic Development Authority helped Uponor find the former Hutchinson Technology building, said Mayor Gary Forcier. The city has yet to determine the economic impact of Uponor’s expansion. Mattsson declined to say how many people the company might hire for the Hutchinson plant.

Forcier said getting a new user into the building can only be positive for Hutchinson.

“Any time we get a major employer in town, it’s a big deal for the city,” he said in an interview.

Uponor picked Hutchinson for its expansion because of its relative proximity to Apple Valley and its “access to a large manufacturing workforce,” Mattsson said.

Related:

• Uponor to expand again in Apple Valley