Dallas Fort Worth-based developer Cold Creek Solutions said the company will be constructing a second project in San Antonio, which is becoming one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation. 

According to a press release, the new facility will be approximately 305,000 square feet and will provide 45,000 pallets of frozen food and refrigerated products and will allow for large-scale and multi-operator build-out while remaining efficient. 

“We’re going to build a speculative fully convertible refrigerated and frozen building in the connection business park, 305,000 feet,” Matt McWilliams, president and Managing Partner of CCS, told the Dallas Express. 

McWilliams said he is working with the San Antonio Economic Development on the project as well. 

“I’m working with Tom Long, the chief development officer in San Antonio Economic Development right now. Tom’s pretty excited about the project for San Antonio. He’s working with multiple tours as EMI, that have a need for refrigerator space in that market. And as far as how it benefits CCS, you know we’re developers and we’re happy to bring the projects to the cities where it’s needed.”

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The San Antonio site sits at the intersection of I-10 E and loop 410, making the facilities more accessible, McWilliams said in the press release.

Population growth throughout Texas is a contributing factor to Cold Creek Solutions’ decision to create the second facility as there is a critical shortage of new cold storage that supports the growth and abundance of new food production facilities being built. According to the press release, the new facility will be one of the largest “state-of-the-art” facilities in San Antonio and the surrounding areas. 

“Like our project up north in the DFW metroplex, we look forward to serving the central and southern half of the state with another exceptional cold storage facility that will support the continued economic boom throughout Texas,” McWilliams said in the press release. 

Cold Creek Solutions is also planning its new facility in Denton, which will be a 374,560-square-foot cold storage facility, an article from the Denton Record-Chronicle said. According to the article, the real estate services firm CBRE estimates that higher demand and food production will result in needing 75-100 million square feet of freezer and cooler space within the next five years. 

“We’re finding that a lot of these markets have older facilities that the tenant is looking for a better facility with more clear height, better loading [and] better access, and we’re seeing that in several markets across the country,” McWilliams said, as reported by Denton Record-Chronicle. 

The pandemic creating more consumer shopping online for frozen and refrigerated items through meal delivery service has accelerated the trends in needing the additional space for growing food production. Most existing cold storage facilities, nearly 80%, are 20 or more years old, the Denton Record-Chronicle said. 

The San Antonio facility will break ground this fall, while the Denton facility will break ground this summer.

Both facilities are planning to be operational by 2022.