Interest in cold storage assets heightened during the pandemic, according to CBRE’s 2021 U.S. Real Estate Market Outlook. Growth in online food sales, particularly for perishables and refrigerated/frozen foods, has piqued investor interest, leading to yield compression.

With that demand in mind, equity and debt was recently placed for Blackline Cold Storage LLC for the construction of a cold storage facility located at Cedar Port Industrial Park near the Port of Houston. Cedar Port Industrial Park is the largest master-planned rail-and-barge served industrial park in the country and one of the first industrial parks with rail access near the port.

Located within the heavy-haul corridor near the Barbours Cut and Bayport container terminals, the approximate 300,000-square-foot cold storage facility is expected to be completed in first quarter 2022. The property will be developed on a 36-acre site that was recently purchased by Blackline and Artemis. Project features include multiple segregated temperature zones, 48-foot ceiling heights, up to 50 truck doors, blast freezing capability and rail connectivity.

CBRE’s Gordon Reynolds and Brian Myers of CBRE Capital Advisors, along with Jeff Stein and Brock Hudson of CBRE’s debt and structured finance team in Houston, and Art Rasmussen and David Norrie with CBRE’s food facilities group, arranged the joint venture equity and financing on behalf of Blackline Cold Storage. Blackline Cold Storage is a Houston-based real estate firm specializing in cold storage development and operations.