Castle Branch is closing in on the completion of its new 60,000-square-foot facility. Tuesday, the company announced that it expects to occupy the new facility by early May, a month sooner than expected.

“We are counting the days until we are up and running in the new location,” Brett Martin, chief executive officer and founder of Castle Branch, said in a news release. “We have maxed out our capacity in our current building and will continue to hire in anticipation of the additional space in the new facility.”

Combined with 36,000 square feet of space in its current building on Sir Tyler Drive, Castle Branch will soon occupy nearly 100,000 square feet, the release stated.

Castle Branch, a major background screening and compliance management company, has invested $10 million in the new building. With a current staffing level of about 300, Castle Branch expects to employ more than 420 people by 2017, fulfilling requirements of a state and local incentive package the company received to expand in Wilmington, the release stated.

Thomas Construction Group is the building's general contractor; project managers are David Converse and Bossy Fitzsimmons, said Caroline Merrill, the group's spokeswoman.

“We were able to accelerate our schedule due to the coordination between SHP, Castle Branch, Lisle Architecture, Thomas Construction Group and all of our subcontractors," said Converse. "The team as a whole did a great job working together through all phases of the project. We are very thankful for everyone’s efforts throughout the project.”

Castle Branch has already brought on 80 new employees since the incentive agreement was announced and expects to grow its workforce by at least the same number by this time next year, the release stated.
 
The company, which began operations in Chapel Hill in 1997, moved to Wilmington in 2002 with 32 employees and relocated to its current space in 2009.