Chicago Cold Storage: Built for the Freeze

Why Karis Cold is betting big on Chicago’s cold storage gap

In Chicago, a city known for its dep-dish pizza and harsh winters, it turns out what’s in short supply is cold. Specifically, cold storage.

Even as construction costs, entitlement delays, and municipal hurdles stacked up, Karis Cold pressed ahead with its latest development: 3815 S. Ashland Ave., a 99,530-square-foot cold storage facility rising in Chicago’s historic Stockyards district, dubbed Karis Stockyards. Development Solutions, Inc. serves as the project’s general contractor and the leasing team features John Basile, Alex Sutterer, and Packy Doyle of NAI Hiffman. The project is set to deliver in July.

“There was a void in the market and a real need for modern, food-grade space in that area,” said Jake Finley, CEO of Karis Cold. “We saw an opportunity in a key location and decided we were going to push through every obstacle to get it done.”

Located four miles south of downtown, the site sits within the Planned Manufacturing District, home to more than 265 businesses and more than 15,000 jobs, many of which are tied to food processing and distribution. While the neighborhood’s legacy is built on meatpacking, the new Stockyards project signals a pivot toward advanced cold logistics infrastructure.

“We’re building a modern, efficient facility that can adapt to the evolving needs of food users,” Finley said. “Everything about this site was intentionally designed-from the 50-foot-clear heights to the flex freezer space that can be converted to cooler use.”

That flexibility is built into the bones of the facility. The design features two large flex freezer areas – 40,625 and 38,463 square feet respectively – each with 50-foot clear heights. A cold dock with 15,491 square feet and a 30-foot clear height rounds out the footprint along nearly 5,000 square feet of office and utility space. The project includes 14 exterior docks, 13 trailer stalls and a 130-foot truck court to ensure maximum operability for logistics users.

Beyond specs, the development speaks to a broader regional trend. According to Avison Young, cold storage construction in greater Chicago exploded in 2024 with 3.3 million square feet under development across 10 buildings. All but one of those broke ground last year and 85 percent are build-to-suit, a reflection of user-specific demands and the shortage of modern inventory.

“Users in the cold storage sector don’t just need square footage; they need reliability, hygiene, airflow, energy performance, and labor access,” Finley said. “You can’t find that in older buildings. You have to build it.”

That scarcity has created urgency for developers and users alike. Avison Young reports that only 536,589 square feet of cold storage were delivered across 2022 and 2023 despite rising demand from grocers, processors, and e-commerce distributors.

“Chicago is one of the best transportation and food hubs in the country, but we’re way behind on functional cold space,” Finley said. “A lot of tenants don’t want to retrofit a 60-year-old building when they can move into a purpose-built facility that’s ready on Day One.”

That was the thesis behind Karis Cold’s Ashland Site. The company acquired the parcel in 2022 and worked through a maze of entitlements and infrastructure planning before breaking ground in late 2023. Construction milestones are being met steadily with walls and roofing already in place. Delivery remains on track for midsummer.

“It hasn’t been easy,” Finley said. “But we never questioned whether this project made sense. The fundamentals were too strong.”

Among those fundamentals is the site’s location. Situated in a labor-rich area with more than 186,000 blue collar workers within a 25-minute drive, the Stockyards facility is transit-accessible via CTA routes on Ashland and Pershing and offers quick access to Interstate 55 and 90. The site is just more than a mile from the Dan Ryan Expressway and less than 10 minutes from downtown.

“This is a last-mile, infill cold storage location,” Finley said. “You’re not trying to get trucks in from an hour away in the suburbs. You’re right in the middle of it – close to customers, close to the workforce.”

That access to labor and logistics infrastructure is especially critical in cold storage, where operations are temperature sensitive, shift-based, and often require significant staffing. The 5-acre parcel allows for ample trailer and auto parking while the 6B tax classification helps offset operating costs for tenants.

“Our end users are often working on thin margins,” Finley said. “Having a well-located building that saves them on energy, labor, and transportation is a huge advantage.”

Still, even with these competitive edges, cold storage development is not for the faint of heart. The buildings are complex, expensive, and highly technical. They require close coordination with contractors, municipalities, and utility providers. And once built, lease-up can be slow due to the specialized nature of the user base.

Karis Cold, a national developer focused on cold storage, has developed more than 1 million square feet of freezer and cooler space across major logistics markets. For Chicago, Finley sees Ashland as just the beginning.

“We love the Chicago market,” he said. “There’s more room to grow, and we’re already exploring additional opportunities.”

Until then, the company remains focused on finishing what it started: bringing 3815 S. Ashland across the finish line and providing a vital piece of infrastructure to a city that sorely needs it.

“We’re proud of what we’re building,” Finley said. “And we’re confident it’s going to serve the needs of Chicago’s food and logistics industry for decades to come.”

Read the story from Chicago Industrial Properties.

About NAI Hiffman:

NAI Hiffman is one of the largest independent commercial real estate services firms in the US, with a primary focus on metropolitan Chicago, and part of the NAI Global network. We provide institutional and private leasing, tenant representation, capital markets, project services, research, and marketing services for owners and occupiers of commercial real estate. To meet our clients’ growing needs outside of our exclusive NAI Hiffman territory, we launched Hiffman National, our dedicated property management division, which provides facility management, accounting, lease administration, lender services and project services across the country. NAI Hiffman | Hiffman National is an award winning company headquartered in suburban Chicago, with more than 275 employees strategically located throughout North America.

About Hiffman National:

Hiffman National is one of the US’s largest independent commercial real estate property management firms, providing institutional and private clients exceptional customized solutions for property management, project management, property accounting, lease administration, marketing, and research. The firm’s comprehensive property management platform and attentive approach to service contribute to successful life-long relationships and client satisfaction. As a nationally bestowed Top Workplace, and recognized CRE award winner, Hiffman National is headquartered in suburban Chicago, with more than 275 employees nationally and an additional six hub locations and 25 satellite offices across North America.