Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is looking to expand by more than 1M SF in the Southeast, we hear (which is equivalent to 180 million cups of coffee).

Waterbury, Vt.-based GMCR is scouting for a production facility somewhere in the Southeast, including Georgia, our sources say. (GMCR's Sandy Yusen, above, declined to elaborate on the details.) It's a deal that just hit the industrial market's radar and is one of the biggest requirements out there right now and could brew up new Georgia jobs. Company officials did confirm that it “is expanding its operations in the Southeastern United States, and we are in the process of assessing potential locations for a manufacturing and production facility.”

The deal comes just weeks after GMCR and Atlanta-based Coca-Cola struck an agreement in which the two companies will collaborate on the development of Coke's global brand portfolio for use in GMCR's forthcoming Keurig Cold at-home beverage system. The deal has given GMCR a more than $1B capital infusion from Coke to develop its products for at-home brewing. And for Coke, it gives the beverage giant access to the fast-growing at-home brewing and soda-making market. (Soon there won't be a liquid that Coke doesn't own, including Coke Snow.) Sources say Colliers is leading the charge on the RFP, but officials declined to comment.