With nearly 50,000 employees at almost 300 locations around the globe, Berry Plastics is a giant player in the worldwide plastics industry.

But the company is also a part of Erie's Little Italy neighborhood. And the Enterprise Development Center — which is part of the Erie County Redevelopment Authority —wants it to stay that way.

The Center is seeking bids to build a 90,000-square-foot building to be used as a warehouse and distribution center. The new building, to be built at 1501 Myrtle St., would be leased to Berry Plastics, said Tina Mengine, CEO of the Redevelopment Authority and executive director of the Enterprise Development Center.

The property, located next door to the main Berry Plastics facility at 316 W. 16th St., will allow the company to move all of its Erie operations onto adjacent properties and to give up leased space on Greengarden Road.

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"We have owned the property for a long time," Mengine said. "It was purchased prior to me being at the Authority with the intent to build a warehouse for Berry Plastics. Finally, last year, we were able to get it off the ground."

A considerable amount of work already has been done to prepare for construction.

"We have done a lot of preliminary work to prepare for the project itself," Mengine said. "We tore down an old building. We remediated (environmental issues) to DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) standards. And we have worked with the city. We will be closing off that end of Myrtle Street. It will become one large campus."

Plans call for the Enterprise Development Center to own the warehouse and lease it to Berry Plastics, which employs about 145 in Erie.

Under the terms of what is known as a triple net lease, Berry will pay the rent as well as the cost of maintenance and utilities.

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The expansion is expected to add another eight to 12 employees at Berry.

"The really nice thing is it solidifies Berry Plastics' position in Erie," Mengine said. "They are a global company but they have kept that operation in Erie. Despite having 290 locations around the world. Erie remains a key part of their operation."

Depending on the bids for the project, Mengine expects the building could cost between $8 million and $9 million.

Much of the funding is already in place.

Mengine said the project was the recipient of a $2 million grant from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. The state Industrial Sites Reuse Program also provided a $560,000 grant, while the project got another $500,000 boost in the form of a state Community Development Block Grant.

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Local financing is being provided by the First National Bank and both the city of Erie and county redevelopment authorities.

This expansion isn't the first time that Berry, which each year produces billions of plastic lids for containers including water bottles and mayonnaise jars, has enlarged its Erie presence.

In 2016, the company broke ground for a $4 million expansion that included upgrades to the existing building as well as a new 27,500-square-foot warehouse.

Contact Jim Martin at 814-881-5229 or jmartin@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNMartin.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie's Berry Plastics will lease new warehouse in adjacent property in city