St. Louis, Missouri Underground Refrigerated Warehouse Space conversions.

                              

The greater Metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri has a number of underground warehouse developments. These developments typically are occupied by a public refrigerated warehousing company that provides freezer pallet storage warehouse services. Freezer pallet storage warehouse services is when a pallet of refrigerated food or frozen food products is stored on a month-to-month basis, with the handling provided by the public refrigerated warehouse company.

 

However, underground refrigerated warehouse for lease can be converted into refrigerated food processing space for lease. The major advantages are a lower than normal build out costs which results in a lower rental rate for food processing areas, either refrigerated or ambient temperature food production space. Sometimes the rental rate are up to 50% less than the lease rate for above ground facilities.

 

The operating costs associated with occupying food processing space in an underground warehouse facility are also substantially lower because of the insulation value of rock. Above ground facilities have 4 inches of urethane panel installation in its refrigerated processing areas, and underground facilities may have up to 100 feet of rock to provide its insulating values.

 

The occupancy costs are lower in underground refrigerated warehouse space is because of a lower property tax rate. Property taxes are initially based on construction costs of the building, and then in subsequent property tax assessment periods on the market value of the property. Underground warehouse space is more affordable to construct than above ground warehouse space, thus always maintaining a lower property tax structure.

 

The underground refrigerated warehouse development has to have the utility inner structure in place for the conversion of underground warehouse space into food processing space for lease.

 

Jim Cronin is a refrigerated building real estate broker from St. Louis, Missouri. Jim Cronin has either leased or sold 114 freezer or cooler buildings in his career. Contact Jim Cronin at 314-994-0577 or e-mail J.Cronin@hawkds.com   www.refrigerated-buildings.com

 

 

 

 

Freezer Warehouse Storage in refrigerated buildings in St. Louis, Missouri.

                                                                   
                             

Freezer  warehouse storage temperatures in refrigerated warehouse buildings in St. Louis, Missouri historically have been held that a -10°. Whenever a refrigerated food products or refrigerated ingredients for food products were kept in the freezer warehouse portion of the refrigerated building it was believed that a -10° storage temperature was required to maintain the quality and desirability of the refrigerated food. However there has been a trend in the Metropolitan St. Louis area and also refrigerated buildings in the Illinois portion to maintain 0° storage temperatures in the freezer warehouse space. This trend began about 7 years ago, about the time of the beginning of the most recent economic downturn. What appears to be is that the owner’s and the operator’s of  some of the refrigerated food companies, refrigerated cold storage warehouses, and refrigerated food processing companies reviewed all of their operations operating costs in order to maintain profit margins. Electrical usage is a significant operating cost of any refrigerated warehouse building. Perhaps over time the freezer storage temperatures were allowed to increase to what has become normally a 0° zero degrees storage temperature within the freezer portion of the refrigerated building.

Certain refrigerated food products require lower freezer storage temperatures. Food products with high sugar content require lower freezer storage temperatures, because the freezing temperature of sugar is lower than 32°, much like salt water requires lower than 32° to freeze solid. Ice cream products therefore require freezer storage temperatures normally at -15°. Also frozen dough bakery products sometimes have certain types of yeast that have exact freezer storage temperature specifications. The freezer storage temperature specifications have some relation to activating the yeast, with certain types of yeast having different temperature specifications for freezer warehouse storage.

Hawk Distribution Services, LLC www.hawkds.com has 28 years of experience of selling or leasing refrigerated buildings as a real estate broker. Please contact Jim Cronin at 314-994-0577 or e-mail J.Cronin@hawkds.com