Hiffman’s John Basile Represents Buyer in 225,000 SF Cold Storage Facility Sale

NAI Hiffman, the largest independent real estate services firm in the Midwest, today announced it has brokered the off-market sale of 1556 W. 43rd St., a 225,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, as well as the business occupying the facility, Ashland Cold Storage. Karis Cold has engaged Artico Cold Storage to assume the facility’s operations.

John Basile, executive vice president with NAI Hiffman’s Industrial Brokerage Group, represented Karis Cold along with Jay Maher, senior vice president at Nelson Hill. Karis Cold is a private-equity-backed real estate company focused exclusively on serving the real estate needs of the cold storage industry, acquiring, developing, managing and investing in cold storage facilities nationwide.

“The owners of 1556 W. 43rd St. asked us to bring in a confidential offer for their refrigerated warehouse. What made the sale highly unconventional is they also wanted us to bring in someone to take over the existing business,” said Basile, who also brokered Karis Colds’ first cold storage acquisition, 5115 S. Millard Ave. in Chicago. “We knew that this would be a very complicated transaction and would be too unusual for most institutional investors. However, having completed previous transactions with Karis Cold in this sector, it was our first call. As a result, Karis Cold was able to get their arms around the issues and provide a solution that made sense for everyone.”

“The asset’s location right outside of downtown is ideal for both food processors in the stockyards, and food distributors needing immediate access to the largest concentration of restaurants in the Midwest.” added Maher.

The property is situated in the heart of the Chicago Stockyards Industrial Park, Chicago’s long-time epicenter for the region’s food processors and distributors. The park is a collection of approximately 100 businesses – warehouses, manufacturing plants and offices – built on the city’s former Stockyards property. The Stockyards are bounded by Pershing Road, Halsted Avenue, West 47^th Street, and Ashland Avenue.

“The current demand for refrigerated warehouses in premier locations is insatiable,” said Basile. “As a result, what used to be a niche sector is now being sought by all the major players. In such a crowded landscape, companies like Karis Cold are able to find extra value by pursuing complicated, off-market opportunities that take a little more time to understand.”

In all, 1556 W. 43rd St. has 6 million cubic feet of space, 22 truck docks and access to rail service. Services include blast freezing, government certification, import/export services and more. It is located less than 10 miles from downtown Chicago and is minutes to I-55, 1-57 and other major interstates.