Ball Aerospace plans large-scale expansion at Boulder campus

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comments from Ball Corp. and corrected to reflect that proposed buildings would be up to 55 feet tall and the parking garage would have 850 spaces. BizWest regrets the errors.

BOULDER — Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., the aerospace arm of Westminster-based metal-packaging manufacturer Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL), is considering a major expansion to its aerospace operations in Boulder.

Late last year, the firm submitted to city planners documents that show Ball’s intent to build three new buildings at the 1600 Commerce St. campus that would add 375,000 square feet on the roughly 27-acre site. 

“The company’s ability to expand operations on the Boulder campus in order to increase aerospace production and testing capabilities will help determine the future of Ball Aerospace in Boulder,” the company wrote in a pre-development application review memo.

Ball has operated in Boulder since 1956 and has since spread operations to surrounding communities with cheaper, more-plentiful land for expansion.

“Ball Aerospace, a leading developer of spacecraft, instruments, sensors and advanced data solutions, has a long and robust relationship with Boulder that spans nearly 65 years. As our business has grown, so has our community footprint. Beginning in 1969 as a 319-square-foot manufacturing facility, in 2014 we expanded the Ball Fisher Manufacturing Complex by an additional 82,000 square feet to create a modern production complex,” a Ball spokeswoman told BizWest in an email. “Ball continues to expand in both the number of programs and employees, recently hiring an additional 1,000 new local team members. In order to maintain our ability to continue growing our presence in Boulder, in a way that aligns with the community’s unique history, culture and strong commitment to sustainability, we are renewing Ball’s existing Planned Unit Development with the Boulder County Planning Division. The updated PUD will ensure that the business maintains options for expansion, which is essential to support continued growth, additional hiring and program execution.”

In 2019, Ball broke ground on a new four-building, 186,000-square-foot Westminster headquarters located at the existing site of Ball’s Packaging Office Center at 9343 W. 108th Circle in Westminster.

The same year, the firm unveiled plans to add 137,000 square feet of office and research and development space to Ball’s existing roughly 121,000-square-foot Broomfield R&D operation on 10 Longs Peak Drive. 

In addition to the three new buildings — one of which would total 295,000 square feet and the two others 40,000 square feet each — proposed at Ball’s Boulder campus, the firm wants to build a new 850-space parking garage and a sky bridge over Commerce Street.

The proposed buildings are planned to be up to 55 feet and with a floor to area ratio greater than is allowed under current zoning regulations, planning documents show. 

It’s unclear when Ball hopes to break ground on the expansion. A site review for the project has yet to appear on a Boulder Planning Board agenda.

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