WinWholesale has filed preliminary plans to expand its distribution site north of the Austin Boulevard interchange on Interstate 75.

The company, a supplier and distributor of mechanical supplies and materials, is seeking rezoning of land off Byers Road and preliminary approval of plans for a possible expansion.

“The concept of this site is to create a laboratory for other retail facilities that they own around the country,” according to a Miami Twp. staff analysis. “This allows WinWholesale to have staff work in a retail environment, test new technologies and see what works and doesn’t work in real time.”

Bill Tolliver, WinWholesale assistant corporate counsel and commercial asset manager, said the expansion may involve new buildings. How many new buildings have not been determined yet, but “probably two at the most,” said Chuck Manker, a spokesman for WinWholesale.

The total expansion could be 20,000 to 30,000 square feet, Tolliver said.

“It’s an idea,” Tolliver said of the plan. The site could be used as a lab, a place where employees from around the country could spend time with “seasoned veterans” close to the company’s corporate headquarters in Kettering.

Land around the Austin-Interstate 75 interchange has been rezoned in the process of building the interchange, Tolliver noted. Rezoning WinWholesale’s property for a possible expansion would be a first step “in many” in the project, he said.

Manker said plumbing equipment wholesaling, electrical equipment wholesaling and other operations could be supported there.

But Manker said it was too soon to talk about possible new jobs.

“It’s growth,” Manker said. “We’re in a growth mode.”

A 200,000-square-foot WinWholesale distribution center has operated at the site since 2004.

The company has 4,100 employees total across the nation. The company has about 300 employees in the Dayton area.

The plan is the latest for more than $400 million in development around the new interchange.

RG Properties plans to spend more than $150 million at Austin Landing, a multi-use development already featuring two office buildings and a Kohl’s department store. Springboro and Mills Development plan a 10-building office campus, south of Austin Landing.

WinWholesale, a private company, consists of more than 450 wholesaling corporations in which it is an equity partner, as well as the Noland Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary.

“We’ll get down to the nitty gritty when they submit final plans,” Miami Twp. Planner Kyle Hinkelman said.

The company plans to begin construction within a year, according to the zoning application.

Company representatives are expected to present the plan to the township zoning commission at 7 p.m. Tuesday at township offices at 2700 Lyons Road. The company would still need final approval before beginning construction.