BATTLE CREEK, MICH. — A project designed to allow the Kellogg Co. to relocate approximately 600 employees who currently work at its Porter Street office complex to downtown Battle Creek has been put on hold, according to Kellogg.

Construction on the six-story "green" building near Kellogg’s headquarters was expected to begin this spring at an estimated private capital investment of $22.5 million, but a difficult economic environment has delayed the project, the company said.

The $22.5 million investment is part of a larger $35 million earmarked by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to support a downtown redevelopment in Battle Creek. In addition to the new office building, plans call for the establishment of a research center in food sciences and food protection.