Vomela Cos. has hired R.J. Ryan Construction to build a new corporate headquarters on 3M's former campus on St. Paul's East Side, officials announced Tuesday.

The new 300,000-square-foot building will allow the specialty graphics services firm to consolidate four Twin Cities facilities into one location. About 85 percent of the new location will become production space.

Vomela, which has operated in St. Paul since 1947, "will bring our more than 300 Minnesota employees under one roof for the first time," said CEO and President Mark Auth in a statement. "We proudly call St. Paul home and are excited about all the benefits that our new building will provide for our business, employees and customers."

This spring, Vomela purchased about 11.5 acres of land from the St. Paul Port Authority for the project. The Port Authority began preparing the site for construction earlier this month.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the building is scheduled for Sept. 17. The project will be completed in July 2019 and will sit in the Beacon Bluff Business Center at Minnehaha Avenue East and Arcade Street.

Vomela is the firm that 3M Co. recently partnered with in order to wrap its iconic headquarters building in Maplewood in a creative, colorful graphics film that can be seen by drivers on Interstate 94.

Vomela also gained widespread attention in 2014 when it draped the Sherwin-Williams building in downtown Cleveland in a 10-story banner bearing the likeness of basketball great LeBron James. The iconic photo banner, which weighed 1.3 tons, came down in July when James left the Cleveland Caveliers for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725