New POLB Cold Storage Facility Breaks Ground

Vernon, Calif.-based Baker Cold Storage and Colton, California-based Lineage Logistics have teamed up to build a brand new 250,000 square foot cold storage facility within the Port District in Long Beach.

The building broke ground in a special onsite ceremony at 11:30 am on March 19, and is scheduled to open in the spring of 2015. The facility is expected to feature a freezer, cooler and refrigerated cross-dock for truck, container and rail service.

Baker purchased the 12.6-acre property from Eagle Rock Aggregates and Partners in 2012. When built, it’s expected to be among the largest near-port facility of its kind in Southern California.

The project is valued at about $75 million.

The site, which was owned for more than 75 years by J.H. Baxter and used for treating wood products with preservatives and wood treatment chemicals, is contaminated by residue from the wood preservative operations and sat empty for over a decade due to the cost and effort required to remediate. A mitigation plan to clean up the brownfield site is expected to make it usable for the first time in decades.

“We are excited to take a piece of previously unviable prime real estate in the Port District and be able to develop it,” Baker Cold Storage President Jim Andreoli said.

“The Port of Long Beach is one of the busiest seaports in the US,” Lineage Logistics CEO Bill Hendricksen said. “Each year, more than six million 20-foot container units come through the port, along with 75 million metric tons of cargo, much of which requires cold storage. We are honored to provide the Port of Long Beach with private infra-structure to help fulfill their billion dollar commitment to 21st century facilities and innovative environmental programs.”

The new 250,000 sq. ft. facility is planned to include storage for 54 million pounds of foodstuffs and a cross dock capable of trans-loading two million pounds of product per day.

“There are currently no facilities of this design, size and capability in the Long Beach Port District or anywhere else in California for that matter,” Mitch Ebright, Vice President of Baker Cold Storage, said.

Logistics Company Opening POLB Storage Facility

Warehousing and logistics company Lineage Logistics says it plans to open and operate a new 196,000 square foot cold storage facility at the Port of Long Beach by mid-2014.

Baker Cold Storage has acquired the property and will own the new facility and business, while Lineage, which is the third largest temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics company in the U.S., will manage the facility’s operations.

Lineage is based in the inland Southern California city of Colton; Baker Cold Storage is headquartered in the LA-area city of Vernon.

“The on-port facility in Long Beach enables Lineage to gain access to one of the world’s busiest seaports and facilitate temperature-controlled logistics for international trade,” Lineage CEO Bill Hendricksen said in announcing the plan.

The facility, which would be at Pier B, is designed to have multi-temperature and convertible freezer and cooler rooms with 27,000 pallet positions and a 60 foot refrigerated dock, according to Lineage.

“By expanding Lineage’s operations to the port,” Hendricksen said, “we are able to offer our customers strategic, direct access to international markets, while creating 100 additional domestic jobs and contributing to the growth of the port to boost the local economy.”

The facility is also designed to provide various ancillary services, including blast freezing and pre-cooling capabilities, to support a diverse range of food commodities and products. Also included would be an enclosed, refrigerated 50,000 square foot cross-dock facility to enable rapid movement of products for international shipping and distribution to the market.

Lineage says the property will also provide access to transportation with truck, trailer and container parking, featuring plug-in capabilities as well as rail access served by Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe.