Brooklyn Bottling seeks tax relief for expansion
The Ulster County Industrial Development Agency board on Wednesday agreed to consider a request for about $1.1 million in tax breaks for the planned expansion of the Brooklyn Bottling operation in Milton.
The company, a manufacturer and distributor of beverage brands, wants to expand operation its two properties in Milton, a hamlet in the southern Ulster County town of Marlborough.
The plan calls for adding 52,716 square feet to Brooklyn Bottling’s 118,000-square-foot warehouse on Riverview Drive, at a cost of $2.75 million; spending $350,000 for site improvements and equipment at the warehouse; and spending $900,000 for new equipment and “soft costs” related to increasing production at the company’s South Road facility.
Brooklyn Bottling Regional Controller Mike Bonforte said the Milton business is the headquarters for a distribution operation that has locations in Miami, Atlanta and Somerset, N.J., with plans to expand to Texas and Canada.
“The primary production facilities are here in Milton for the soft drinks and waters and food,” he said.
Among the beverage brands handled by Brooklyn Bottling are Tropical Fantasy, Nature’s Own and Best Health.
The tax relief that Brooklyn Bottling is seeking from the Industrial Development Agency includes a paymentin-lieu-of-taxes agreement that would save the company about $942,000 over 15 years; $96,000 in sales tax exemptions for purchases; and $33,000 in exemptions from mortgage tax recording fees.
The application states a total of 125 people work at the two sites in Milton and that 20 more would be hired as a result of the expansion.
“The business is growing,” Bonforte said. “It’s that energy drink category. That’s the growth area.”
“Given a rapidly improving environment for contract manufacturing, [Brooklyn Bottling] has the opportunity to take on additional work, and we are in advance discussions with several major beverage brands at this time,” the tax relief application states.
The Industrial Development Agency will hold a public hearing on Brooklyn Bottling’s request in September but has not yet set a date.