RICHMOND, CA–An eight-year lease for a 109,594-square-foot industrial freezer distribution facility in Richmond, CA has been completed for HelloFresh Inc., a growing meal-delivery service. Built in 2000 and expanded in 2005, the class-A freezer facility is situated on 7.62 acres and is located directly off Interstate 580 at 2041 Factory St. The lease is valued at approximately $13 million for the freezer storage to food production facility.
Avison Young's Kevin Ahaesy, SIOR, principal, and JW Krumpholz, associate, who specialize in the sale and leasing of industrial property and corporate food services, represented the building ownership, Highridge Provender LLC, a Southern California-based real estate investment firm. HelloFresh was represented by Colliers International.
Ahaesy tells GlobeSt.com: "This product type is not readily available because cold storage tenants tend not to move and it is not built on spec. It required a lot of customization to the existing bulk distribution freezer facility. The ownership, Highridge Provender, which specializes in high-end food grade buildings, was able to convert the building to a food production facility and offer a plug-and-play scenario to HelloFresh. This will enable the tenant to move and begin operations in less than 90 days. No other facility in the Bay Area could offer that timing and quality of product."
The building features a 47-foot clear height freezer; abundant trailer storage; a 100-foot deep refrigerated dock staging area; and the capacity to store upwards of 10 million pounds of frozen product or 9,012 pallet positions. Additionally, the property includes an on-site U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) room and offers the ability to expand the current facility by up to an additional 50,000 square feet.
Krumpholz adds, “There are only about five food-grade buildings comparable to 2041 Factory Street in all of Northern California. This niche property market is very tight.”
Ahaesy and Krumpholz represented Highridge Provender on its purchase of the asset in December 2014, which was delivered vacant and formerly occupied by Richmond Wholesale Meats. The acquisition marked the newly formed Highridge Provender's first acquisition.
"Richmond offers a great employment pool and proximity to San Francisco," continues Ahaesy. "That is why Williams Sonoma, Whole Foods, and Galaxy Desserts all have located their warehouse distribution centers in Richmond."
Highridge Provender hired cold storage expert, Chad Swan, and Highridge's founder is Neil Johnson.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
