As part of plans to grow its business in the Midwest region, Somerset, New Jersey-based Budd Van Lines Inc. has signed a long-term lease of a roughly 115,800-square-foot industrial building in Racine.
Budd Van Lines recently signed a ten-year lease for the facility located at 6200 Regency West Drive, said chief operating officer Tom Torcomian. He said the company will relocate its Merchants division to that building from its existing 40,000-square-foot facility at 1215 State St., Racine.
The expanded space will allow Budd Van Lines to quadruple its presence in the region. It now has 30 trucks and about 60 employees in Wisconsin, but is looking to grow to about 100 trucks and 200-300 employees.
“We are very focused on growing here in the Midwest and expanding our presence,” Torcomian said.
The company plans to be fully moved in by June, he said. Improvements being made to the facility includes building office space, expanding doors and refacing the driveway.
Budd Van Lines operates 200 trucks nationally.
John Sharpe and Jeff Janda of Lee & Associates’ Illinois office and Reid Bassinger of Lee & Associates’ Dallas office, represented Budd Ban Lines in lease negotiations. Todd Hendricks of Darwin Realty represented the owner, Welbic III Racine 6200 LLC.
Budd Van Lines acquired Merchants Moving & Storage in February 2019. Torcomian said his company bought Merchant with the intent to market it as a division of Budd Van Lines. The Merchant name will remain with this expansion, he added.
Upon acquiring Merchant, “we had assumed their old building in Racine, but were looking for a larger location to serve as our Midwest headquarters and service center,” said Torcomian.
Budd Van Lines specializes in moving corporate executives and luxury properties, but provides services for any type of move ranging from private households to commercial clients.
Get more news and insight in the April 27 issue of BizTimes Milwaukee. Subscribe to get updates in your inbox here.
