Bob Evans Foods to move New Albany HQ

Bob Evans Foods no longer plans to live on the farm.

The prepared-foods company, which split from the restaurants last year, is leaving the company’s New Albany headquarters early next year, The Columbus Dispatch reports.

The headquarters campus, which has a modern farm aesthetic and a large white silo visible along Route 161, is an impressive space, but the food division, which was acquired by St. Louis-based Post Holdings, is ready to move on.

Post Holdings plans to fold its other prepared-foods division, Michaels Foods, into Bob Evans Foods. That merger will almost double the size of Bob Evans Foods and create the need for new office space separate from the restaurants.

The foods division isn’t moving far. It plans to relocate to a new office building being developed along Walton Parkway just west of Route 62 in New Albany.

The restaurant division, which is now owned by San Francisco-based private-equity firm Golden Gate Capital, plans to stay in the New Albany building and hopes to lease the unused space.

“We are actively marketing the office in New Albany and are working with several interested parties to fill the vacant space,” Saed Mohseni, CEO of Bob Evans Restaurants, said in a statement. “Our campus is a very desirable location for many companies in the area, including us, and we plan to remain in the building that is our current home.”

The campus in New Albany, set on 40 acres, was opened in 2013 after the company decided to abandon its long-time headquarters on the south side of Columbus.