Blackline Cold Storage has announced plans for developing, building and operating a 298,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Texas (illustrated above) in to be owned in partnership with Artemis Real Estate Partners on a 36-acre tract at TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park adjacent to Baytown in the Houston–The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area.
The rail-connected site is strategically situated within the heavy-haul corridor in proximity to the Barbours Cut and Bayport container terminals with convenient access to the regional interstate highway system.
Blackline, which will be able to expand the buildout up to 650,800 square feet when needed, has hired the Tippmann Group to proceed with facility design and construction. The project will incorporate flexibility for multiple segregated temperature zones (including blast freezing capability), 48’ ceiling heights, up to 50 truck doors and rail connectivity in order to serve a broad range of customer requirements.
Groundbreaking has begun, and the warehouse is expected to be open for business within 12 months. Blackline has obtained initial term commitments for the facility and is currently engaged in discussions with prospective clients who are interested in securing capacity at the site.
“Strong growth in demand for cold storage across North America, coupled with insufficient existing capacity is what excites Blackline about cold storage business opportunities and regionally what drove us to select the Port of Houston area for investment,” said CEO Mike Day. “We expect our customers who are seeing increased volumes of frozen and perishable goods movements through the port, as well as strong Houston grocery supply chain demand to benefit from this project.”
Ricardo Arias, trade development manager at the Port of Houston, added: “We are teaming up with the private sector to ensure our region has the infrastructure it needs to support the growing temperature-controlled business. We are excited about this new capacity and welcome Blackline Cold Storge to the Houston market.”
