A La Mirada plastic products maker is shopping for an Anaheim site to move its headquarters and give it room to expand.
Privately held Packaging Plus LLC, one of the largest thermoformers in the U.S., has talked with at least two industrial building owners about moving to the city, sources said. Thermoforming is the process of using heat and pressure to make plastic shapes, including packaging.
The hottest spot on Packaging Plus’ radar screen appears to be a 144,000-square-foot plant at 3125 E. Coronado St., which is owned by Los Angeles-based Kilroy Realty Finance Inc., sources said.
It’s roughly four times larger than its current headquarters and more than double its combined operations in La Mirada and Santa Fe Springs.
A Kilroy official couldn’t be reached for comment. Packaging Plus officials didn’t return phone calls. Sources said there’s no guarantee the company will move to Orange County.
The company has an estimated 600 workers.
It’s not clear how many work at Packaging Plus’ La Mirada and Santa Fe locations.
Illinois-based United Plastics Group Inc. recently said it plans to close its plant at the East Coronado site and shift work to a new Tijuana plant. United Plastics is cutting about 140 people.
The plant, one of several plastics factories in the county, is set to close this month. The company’s lease runs through the end of the year.
Packaging Plus officials also have looked into taking roughly half of a 400,000-square-foot space at 1601 E. Cerritos Ave. in Anaheim. But sources said another tenant for the building is believed to be close to finalizing a lease at the site, which is owned by Irvine-based Sares-Regis Group.
Packaging Plus had an estimated $55 million in thermoforming sales in 2005.
The company sells its packaging products to companies in the medical, electronics, consumer and food sectors. Clients include H.R. Spinner Corp., Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. and Quidel Corp.
The company’s main investor is Mellon Ventures Inc., a $1.4 billion private equity partnership affiliated with Pittsburgh-based Mellon Financial Corp.
In June, United Plastics officials said it was moving most of the work done in Anaheim to a Tijuana plant the company expects to open by the end of the year. Some work is set to go to other spots.
Officials with United Plastics cited the high cost of doing business in California as a main reason for the move.
United Plastics came to Anaheim by way of its 2000 acquisition of SPM Inc. from Britain’s Dynacast International Ltd. At its peak, SPM/Anaheim employed about 1,000 people in the city.