Town of Tonawanda equipment maker wants to make its facilities three times bigger

A rendering of the proposed IMA Life North America production, warehouse and office facility in Colvin Woods Business Park in the Town of Tonawanda.

An international equipment manufacturer hopes to triple the size of its production operation in the Town of Tonawanda, in a complex $20 million to $25 million deal that involves two developers, a 20-year-old business park and a cemetery.

IMA Life North America, which makes freeze-drying machines for pharmaceutical companies to stabilize vaccines, antibiotics and other drugs, wants to more than triple its manufacturing and office space by adding a second facility about 3 miles away from its current location on Military Road. That would enable it to expand its operations in Western New York.

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The Italian company is working with Montante Construction as “design-build contractor” on a proposal to construct an 80,000-square-foot production and warehouse building at the westernmost point of the Colvin Woods Business Park – on about half of a 30-acre plot of land owned by Elmlawn Cemetery & Crematory, and which is being acquired first by an affiliate of Ciminelli Real Estate Corp. for $1.95 million.

“We have a higher demand from pharmaceutical companies for freeze-dryer equipment and therefore we have to satisfy the higher demand,” said Ernesto Renzi, president and director of sales for IMA Life North America. “They are quite large equipment and take up a lot of space. We have no opportunity to expand this facility to a level that would be suitable for the future.”

An overall site plan for the 30 acres of land that Ciminelli Real Estate Corp. is acquiring from Elmlawn Cemetery & Crematory, to expand Colvin Woods Business Park in Tonawanda. The plan shows three existing office buildings to the right, and the proposed new IMA Life North America Inc. production, warehouse and office facility on the left.

IMA employs about 170 in Tonawanda, but expects to grow its workforce by 10% to 20%, general manager Joe Aliasso said.

To fund the project, IMA, which will acquire its portion of the property from Ciminelli, will seek incentives from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, and possibly the state.

The land has not been used for burials, is not zoned for that, and is not needed by the cemetery– which stretches along Brighton Road from Delaware Avenue to Colvin Boulevard. The cemetery still has abundant land for its future needs, according to a letter from the state Cemetery Board.

Instead, the long horizontal stub of property, located on the northeast end of the cemetery along the Youngmann Memorial Highway, has been leased to Ciminelli for more than 20 years, as part of Colvin Woods. According to a June 2002 proposal by then-Ciminelli Development Co., the land was supposed to become home to 10 one-story buildings, with 312,000 square feet of office and warehouse space, to be constructed over seven years.

IMA Life North America, which makes freeze-drying machines for pharmaceutical companies to stabilize vaccines, antibiotics and other drugs, employs 170 people at its Town of Tonawanda location.

But only the eastern end was developed, with three commercial buildings at 400, 500 and 600 Colvin Woods Parkway. Those are occupied by John W. Danforth’s sheet-metal fabrication shop, an office formerly used by Definity Health and later United Healthcare, and U.S. Customs & Border Protection, respectively. Danforth owns its building and two others in Colvin Woods, while Ciminelli owns the Border Patrol and former Definity buildings.

Meanwhile, the western half – where IMA Life plans to go – remains vacantbut cleared and flat, largely covered by small shrubs and grass, with no environmentally sensitive features, documents show.

However, the entire parcel is “unsuitable” for burials, and would have to be remediated for that use, because of the underground utilities and parking lots, according to the letter from the Cemetery Board. So Ciminelli, through its I-290 Colvin Associates affiliate, asked Elmlawn 18 months ago about buying the property outright to gain full control over the site and expand Colvin Woods.“It always makes it easier for the developer when they control the land under their buildings,” said John Ciminelli, president of Ciminelli Properties.

A site plan for the proposed new IMA Life North America Inc. production, warehouse and office facility in Colvin Woods Business Park in the Town of Tonawanda. The project would be located on the western portion of 30 acres of land that Ciminelli Real Estate Corp. is acquiring from Elmlawn Cemetery & Crematory, to expand Colvin Woods.

Plans by LaBella Associates call for Montante to put up an 80,000-square-foot light manufacturing building on that 15-acre site, at 700 Colvin Woods, with new driveways, paved surface parking for 183 cars, and other infrastructure.

The building – actually three connected structures of 30, 44 and 66 feet in height – would include 25,000 square feet of manufacturing, another 25,000 square feet for warehouse space, and 30,000 square feet of office space, according to the application from Byron DeLuke, executive director of development and preconstruction at Montante. Only 20,000 square feet of the office space will be furnished and occupied for now, with the rest completed as “vanilla box” space for future expansion by the company.

The project would be connected to the rest of Colvin Woods to the east. It would feature a development laboratory, three production bays and warehouse space to put together and ship pharmaceutical processing and filling equipment. A new heavy-duty asphalt truck court and servicing area would be added in the rear of the building, along with concrete sidewalks, bioretention basins, a wet pond, sanitary sewer service, water service and landscaping.

“This has been a complicated deal,” said Montante Construction President Douglas Elia. “But we’re all pulling together to see our way through.”

According to the documents, the proposed parking is “in line with the demonstrated need based on operations at the current IMA Life North America facility,” and exceeds the 119 spaces that would be required based on the amount of office space. However, the project is being designed to accommodate another larger lot on the western edge if needed. All parking will be screened with landscaping.

The project will also include adequate storm-water management, sewage and waste removal, and drainage. “The project has been designed to be compatible with the site and surrounding parcels at the park,” the application said. “The general landscaping of the site shall be designed in an attractive manner and, wherever possible, desirable natural features existing on the site shall be protected and retained.”

BOC Edwards Pharmaceutical Systems Group, a manufacturer of freeze-drying machinery used by drug makers, has been acquired by the IMA Group SpA. BOC Edwards, which has its main office in the Town of Tonawanda, employs 135 people at a 50,000-square-foot factory at 2175 Military Road. IMA Group, an Italian manufacturer of automatic packaging machines for the drug and tea

IMA Life North America is a subsidiary and one of 53 manufacturing locations of IMA Group, a company that designs and manufactures automatic machines to process and package pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, tea and coffee.Founded in 1961, the company operates in over 80 countries with 29 branches in 16 countries, representative offices in central and Eastern Europe and more than 50 other agencies. In all, it employs 6,900, and its client base includes companies like Eli Lilly & Co., Pfizer and Merck.

Locally, IMA Life operates a manufacturing and office facility at 2175 Military, in a 60,000-square-foot building that was built in 1957 on 3.13 acres. That’s the former home of BOC Edwards Pharmaceutical Systems Group, which made freeze-drying equipment from 1984 until it was acquired by IMA in February 2008 for $52 million.

It’s also where IMA’s Lab4Life Laboratory operates, with a certified clean room, analytical support lab, product formulation, filling and full-size free-drying equipment to produce pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products of up to 20 liters. But the company is running out of room.

According to the application, IMA Life conducted a regional search and considered multiple sites throughout the region before settling on the Elmlawn parcel. Ciminelli is in the process of acquiring the entire property – both the developed and undeveloped portions – from the cemetery, which sought and received approval for the sale from the state in March. Ciminelli will then sell the 15.16-acre western portion to IMA Life.

Ciminelli already obtained major commercial subdivision approval from the town, to divide the site into the IMA parcel and another 14.83 acres for the developed eastern portion, with an “open development plan” designation since the property does not currently front on a public road. The land was also unzoned, but will be categorized initially as “performance standards us” and then as mixed-use industrial.

Montante officials already obtained “sketch plan” guidance from the town Planning Board on March 2, and are now pursuing preliminary site plan approval. If approved, the developer hopes to start construction by the fourth quarter and finish by the end of 2024.

“We believe that the project will have significant direct and indirect benefits on the local economy due to the significant private sector investment it represents, as well as temporary construction jobs required to construct the facility and permanent jobs that will result from the IMA Life North America expansion,” DeLuke wrote in the application.Reach Jonathan D. Epstein at (716) 849-4478 or [email protected].

Reach Jonathan D. Epstein at (716) 849-4478 or [email protected].

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