Regeneron, the global biotechnology company headquartered in Tarrytown, has purchased an Avon research and development center in the Village of Suffern for nearly $3.9 million, according to Rockland County records.
Regeneron will begin renovating the Avon Global Innovation Center in mid-2024, transforming the site into a medical research lab, office and cold storage space that will accommodate about 230 employees.
The move-in process is expected to begin sometime in 2025, according to the company. In the interim, Avon will rent space from Regeneron through spring 2024 as it transitions its R&D operations overseas.
The $38,875,000 purchase dated Dec. 1 for the facility at 1 Avon Place includes nearly 10 acres of land.
Avon announced in 2022 that it would close the facility as part of its parent company’s plans to move R&D operations to Brazil and elsewhere. A notice filed with the state Department of Labor stated Avon’s 138 employees would have their jobs terminated, with the final day of operation slated for March 29, 2024.
Avon, which has operated in Suffern for more than a century, opened the center in Suffern about 20 years ago. The cosmetics company was bought by Natura & Co. in 2020.
Regeneron has more than 12,000 employees in seven countries, according to its website. Besides its corporate headquarters at 777 Old Saw Mill River Road in Tarrytown, the company has facilities in Armonk and Sleepy Hollow.
The company sponsors nearly $9 million in awards, prizes and scholarships for ninth- through 12th-graders in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.
In Westchester County, Regeneron hosts Putting STEM to Work, which pairs high school science students from the River Towns with one of the company’s scientists. The biotech giant recently held its seventh annual Day for Doing Good, a weeklong companywide volunteer effort.
