Investment firm Bain Capital and real estate developer Barber Partners are seeking to invest $500m (€475m) in cold-storage warehouses in the US over the next few years.
The companies have formed a programmatic joint venture to develop approximately 15 class-A, state-of-the-art cold-storage projects under the Chill Storage brand.
The first project is a speculative freezer/cooler facility situated on approximately 34 acres in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The building will have 302,400sqft of space and feature 50ft clear height allowing for the latest racking technology and systems.
Construction will commence this year and the joint venture intends to add several additional sites across the country in the coming months.
“Our team has successfully developed ground-up construction of commercial investment properties for a very long time, and we are experts at delivering first-class products to meet tenant/consumer demands,” said Patrick Barber, chairman of the board at Barber Partners.
“There is no question that there is an enormous need for new, modern cold storage facilities – even before COVID, the consumption of prepared and frozen meals was rapidly on the rise.”
David DesPrez, director at Bain Capital, said: “We are excited to partner with the Barber team to deliver next-generation refrigerated and freezer storage space.
“With the growing complexity of the food and beverage supply chain, we believe our highly adaptable, modern warehouse design will allow us to meet the full spectrum of food tenant needs and provide critical infrastructure to the US food distribution system.”
