Philly-based maker of promo goods to occupy office space in Kensington’s milk-bottle building

A Philadelphia-based company that puts corporate and university logos on such items as umbrellas and dog collars for promotional purposes is moving to the Harbison dairy complex in Kensington, known for the milk-bottle-shaped water tower on its roof.

Pop Promos plans to employ 100 workers in about 20,000 square feet of offices at the former dairy plant when restoration work there concludes in the summer, a spokesperson for the project said in an email. Pop is relocating from offices in an industrial building near Hancock and Poplar Street.

A partnership involving Doug Jordan of real estate firm Southwood Properties and Pop founder Sterling Wilson paid $4.2 million for the complex in April, according to transaction records filed with the city.

The partners are seeking a coffee shop tenant for another commercial space at the 2041-55 Coral St. property, which will also house 86 residential units.

The dairy plant’s founder, Robert Harbison, was an Irish immigrant who moved from Gwynedd Township to Kensington to open the complex at a time when people living in cities didn’t have refrigeration. Harbison’s delivered glass bottles twice daily across the city.

The property’s previous owner, Fozan Ehmedi, bought the complex to use as a warehouse for his grocery store, Cousin’s Supermarket.