CBRE Brokers Sale of 18-Acre Cold Storage and Production Operations in Salinas, Calif.

CBRE arranged the sale of a 17.81-acre cold storage and production operation in Salinas, Calif. to Church Brothers Farms for $24 million. The facilities span across five locations and include 201,225 sq. ft. of warehouse space and excess paved land.

CBRE’s Brian Matteoni represented both the buyer and seller.

“The California industrial market is one of the tightest in the country, with even lower availability of cold storage facilities with production operations. This was a rare opportunity that was a win-win for both sides,” said Mr. Matteoni, Executive Vice President at CBRE. “As food operators streamline and expand their cold storage and distribution needs to adapt to the ever-increasing online grocery shopping demand, locating warehouse operations along the Central Coast & US Hwy 101 in Salinas is a huge logistical benefit for enterprises of ‘farm field cutting to cold storage cooling.’”

The cold storage and productions operations are located at:

• 1230 Hansen Street, Salinas: 120,000 sq. ft. production warehouse on 4.91 acres
• 1250 Hansen Street, Salinas: 82,000 sq. ft. cold storage warehouse on 5.6 acres
• 780 Airport Boulevard, Salinas: paved secured parking lot with four wood frame storage buildings on 2.8 acres
• 806 and 889 Airport Boulevard, Salinas: 4.49 acres paved, secured land parcel

Church Brothers Farms is a vertically-integrated family owned and operated company that processes fresh vegetables year-round. This purchase will enable the buyers to increase shipping capacity, reduce cut-to-cool and transit times, and offer a convenient pick-up location for local customers. Church Brothers Farms will continue to utilize its San Juan Bautista facility for value-added processing with additional shipping capacity as needed.

“The expanded storage and shipping capacity we will gain with the purchase of these properties is going to be a game changer for us. This acquisition not only sustains our current growth trends and accommodates future plans, but it will allow us to continue to provide excellent customer service while doing so,” said Brian Church, CEO at Church Brothers Farms.

Church continued, “It’s a nice piece of real estate in a hard to beat location. We’re excited about this deal and look forward to being able to provide standalone distribution services for key customers that will greatly enhance our overall value as a supplier-partner.”

The Salinas industrial market is comprised of 13.3 million sq. ft. with no new product currently under construction. Vacancy for warehouse space under 125,000 sq. ft. is 1.5% between Salinas and South San Jose.