We are scheduled to close (on a deal with the owners of the Albert E. Price building) on Feb. 14, barring any unforeseen circumstances, said Edward Hovatter, a Pennsau-ken-based attorney who represents Dietz & Watson. If things go right with fitting out the building, the company hopes to be in there by November or December.

While representatives of Dietz & Watson and Albert E. Price Inc. declined to release the purchase price, the agreement calls for Dietz & Watson to purchase the giftware importer's 32-acre property and warehouse on Coopertown Road near the township line.

Philadelphia-based Dietz & Watson, founded by Gottlieb Dietz in 1939, distributes premium deli meats manufactured in Philadelphia, and its artisan cheeses made in New York and other gourmet food products to about three dozen states from coast to coast.

Cindy Yingling, chief financial officer for Dietz & Watson, has said the family-owned company's growth forced them to expand.

Once the deal is complete, Dietz & Watson plans to use the 266,000-square-foot warehouse in Delanco for slicing, packaging, storing and distributing its products. In addition, the company expects to eventually move its development and research facilities and its corporate offices to the Delanco plant.

This building had everything we needed, Hovatter said of the warehouse.

Hovatter said the company would need to install refrigeration systems, construct additional offices, reconfigure the parking lot and improve the landscaping and other areas around the property.

Basically, what we are going to do is take the existing factory and convert it, so the building is conducive for cold storage, Hovatter said.

The site, situated between the company's plants in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York, was one of three locations considered.

Hovatter said officials from Pennsylvania and Maryland courted Dietz & Watson with extensive tax incentives, but the company felt the New Jersey location best fit its needs.

Although, New Jersey wasn't the best deal, (Dietz & Watson) felt this location would be the most logical, Hovatter said.

The members of the Eni family, including Cindy Eni Yingling, who own and operate Dietz & Watson, are longtime Burlington County residents, but Hovatter said that did not play a role in the company's decision to relocate here.

The Township Committee did transfer the Albert E. Price Inc.'s tax abatement deal to Dietz & Watson in December. Last month, the township's Joint Land Use Board approved the deli-meat company's preliminary and final site plan applications and requested variances.

In addition, the Burlington County Economic and Regional Planning department assisted Dietz & Watson with finding loans and incentives available to businesses operating in redevelopment zones in New Jersey.

Hovatter said the company expects to create about 100 to 150 new jobs once the plant is in full operation. The company plans to have three shifts and, eventually, a total of 225 employees working in Delanco.

Township Administrator Steven Corcoran said that while Dietz & Watson's move won't result in a huge boost in tax revenues right away with the tax abatement deal in place, officials are pleased that a company of this stature chose Delanco for its new home.

The impact of a well-known (company) like this moving to a small town like Delanco is enormous, Corcoran said. I'm sure there are people in Baltimore and Pennsylvania who are getting out the map and saying, "Where is Delanco, New Jersey?'