A regional beverage distributor is planning to build a “technologically advanced” sales and distribution center in South Lebanon Township.
ACCB Harrisburg RE LLC of Harrisburg, a subsidiary of ABARTA Coca-Cola Beverages, plans to invest more than $100 million in the state-of-the-art facility, according to a press release from ABARTA.
ABARTA Coca-Cola is the exclusive distributor of Coca-Cola beverages throughout most of Pennsylvania and parts of West Virginia and Ohio. According to the release, the center will allow ABARTA Coca-Cola Beverages “to grow, improve efficiencies, and create competitive advantages across its entire service territory.”
“I am thrilled to announce that the LVEDC has sold 50.8 acres of land in the Lebanon Valley Business Park to ABARTA Coca-Cola,” Susan Eberly, president of the Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corp., said in a statement. “We are pleased that they selected Lebanon County for their new state-of-the-art facility.”
The 240,000-square-foot facility will “significantly” expand the family-owned company’s operations and capabilities, the company’s release said, providing “a much larger and more technologically advanced space than any of ABARTA Coca-Cola Beverages’ existing centers.”
According to county real estate records, the Lebanon Valley EDC sold the land at 10 Ritter Way in Hawk Acres Enterprise Park to ACCB Harrisburg earlier this month for $5.958 million. Other tenants in the park include Regupol America LLC, which makes building products from recycled rubber, and TruBlu Logistics, a subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care North America.
Hawk Acres is adjacent to Lebanon Valley Business Park.
The new construction will replace a smaller facility in Lemoyne.
According to the release, the new center “will feature the latest automated technology, including Vertique, a cutting-edge case-picking and pallet-building system,” which will “allow the center to operate at maximum efficiency, making it a key hub for supporting ABARTA Coca-Cola Beverage’s growing team and the expanding needs of its territory for years to come.”
Charlie Bitzer, executive chair of ABARTA Coca-Cola Beverages, said the facility “will not only enhance our operations here in Harrisburg, but it will also play a critical role in supporting our entire territory, helping us continue to provide excellent service to our communities.”
The project is still in the early stages. ACCB Harrisburg has acquired land in South Lebanon Township and hopes to break ground this summer.
The company expects the facility will be fully operational by the end of 2026.
ACCB Harrisburg partnered with BW Design Group for strategic network planning and construction services, the release said. BW Design Group, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is a leading fully integrated architecture, engineering and construction firm in the food and beverage industry, with more than 30 years of experience with the Coca-Cola system.
According to local news archives, the James E. Crass Coca-Cola Bottling Plants Inc. built a 32,000-square-foot warehouse and sales center at 150 N. Grant St., Cleona, in 1969 for $300,000.
The Mid-Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Co. purchased the plant in 1980 and closed it a year later as part of a regional consolidation plan, when operations were moved to a plant in Shiremanstown.
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