Exclusive: Barings Provides $60M for DFW Cold Storage Asset
The facility came online as part of a $500 million joint venture.
Barber Partners has obtained a $59.8 million loan backed by a cold storage property totaling 302,915 square feet in Denton, Texas, according to Yardi Research Data and public records. Barings provided the variable-rate note.
Barber Partners developed the facility in partnership with Bain Capital. Back in 2022, the duo formed a joint venture that operated under the name Chill Storage, targeting the development of nearly 15 Class A cold storage warehouses. The companies initially committed a $500 million investment and their first project was the Denton one.
READ ALSO: Cold Storage Is Hot and Getting Hotter
Completed in 2023 at 2500 Interstate 35 W., the temperature-controlled warehouse provides easy connectivity to interstates 35 E., 30 and 635. Denton Enterprise Airport is nearby, while Dallas’ international airport is 27 miles away. The area houses companies such as Target, ALDI, Tyson and WinCo Foods.
The cold storage facility features 50-foot clear heights, divisible freezer spaces, a nearly 3,360-square-foot office suite, 39 dock-high doors, two ramps, LED lighting with motion sensors and refrigeration systems that range from -10 to +70 degrees Fahrenheit. The property also has 119 vehicle parking spots and 59 trailer parking spots, with the option of expansion.
The former Chill Storage, now dubbed Chill Development, occupies part of the warehouse. CBRE’s Kevin Kelly, senior vice president of the firm’s National Food Facilities Group, is the property’s leasing broker.
An attractive subsector
Online grocery shopping in the U.S. is expected to grow five times faster than the 1.7 percent rate anticipated for in-store spending by 2029, according to Food Logistics. Consumer use is the driving force behind cold storage growth and the need for new energy-efficient temperature-controlled facilities, as much of the existing cold-storage inventory is nearly 40 years old.
Some 26.7 million square feet of cold storage space have come online in the U.S. between 2019 and 2024, accounting for 0.1 percent of the nation’s existing industrial stock. As for Dallas, the metro emerged as the top market for cold storage deliveries, with more than 2.9 million square feet completed during that 5-year interval.
And development continued its upward trajectory this year as well.
Last month, Americold Realty Trust completed its 335,000-square-foot Import-Export Hub in Kansas City, Mo. The property is part of a broader network of cold storage facilities that the company is developing through various partnerships.
Elsewhere, a joint venture between Agile Cold Storage and Ti Cold opened their second cold storage facility in Pearl River, La., close to New Orleans. The recently completed facility measures 121,000 square feet.
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