TORRANCE, CALIF. — Sweet bread company King’s Hawaiian has confirmed plans for another project on the site of an upcoming new manufacturing plant outside Columbus, Ind., that was announced last December.

Irresistible Foods Group, parent of Torrance-based King’s Hawaiian, aims to build a 300,000-square-foot bakery and production facility by Interstate 65 on an 86-acre parcel near Taylorsville, Ind., across from the Indiana Premium Outlets of Edinburgh shopping center. The food company said it expects to break ground for the $180 million project this year and the facility to become operational in late 2026 or early 2027.

Slated to bring about 150 jobs to Indiana’s Bartholomew County, the plant will produce King’s Hawaiian’s line of baked foods and represent the brand’s first production site in the Midwest.

This week, Columbus-area newspaper The Republic reported that Irresistible Foods has an additional project in the works for the property that includes a $40 million facility investment plus $14 million for new equipment, which would bring another 150 jobs for the area. Citing an official from the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp., The Republic also said that the county has granted Irresistible Foods tax abatements for the new project.

Joe Leonardo, senior vice president and chief operations officer at King’s Hawaiian, declined to provide details on the additional project for the Taylorsville site because an official announcement is planned.

“The $54 million new investment is a separate project/operation, not an expansion of the previously announced project,” Leonardo said. “We will have a formal announcement in the future.”

Leonardo said permits are pending and a timetable for the groundbreaking is expected soon.

“We had bought 86 acres for our King’s Hawaiian expansion — the original project announced in December — and the potential of future growth,” he explained. “Location and community are a great fit for us, and (we) decided to expand on existing property.”