3M Company is planning to build a new lab facility at its Maplewood headquarters campus, one that will house hundreds of researchers.
3M late last week informed its employees of the planned expansion, Jacqueline Berry told Twin Cities Business on Wednesday.
The new building will sit on the west side of the campus and house about 700 3M researchers, Berry said. The 700 workers expected to occupy the new facility are existing employees who are currently spread among other 3M buildings, according to Berry.
Construction is expected to begin next summer, and the building is slated for occupancy in 2015. Berry declined to disclose the cost of the expansion, but the Star Tribune, citing Maplewood officials, reported that the project’s cost could run as high as $150 million.
The expansion “reinforces the importance of 3M Center as a central R&D hub” for the company, Berry said, adding that the move also aligns with the company’s ongoing investments in innovation throughout the world.
3M last year began renovating the existing buildings on its corporate campus, and those updates are ongoing, Berry said. (Read more about those renovations, which include the creation of “collaboration hubs” that involve casual seating areas, in this Star Tribune report.)
3M is among Minnesota’s five largest public companies based on revenue, which totaled $29.6 billion in 2011.