Portside Distribution Center at 233-287 Miller St. in Newark — Courtesy: CBRE
By Joshua Burd
A cold storage warehousing company has taken nearly half of a newly built, 290,000-square-foot industrial building in Newark, brokers with CBRE announced Wednesday.
The business, Refrig-It Warehouse, has signed a 140,000-square-foot lease at 233-287 Miller St. The firm is the first major tenant to commit to what’s known as the Portside Distribution Center, which was developed by a joint venture of Penwood Real Estate Investment Management and Penford Group.
CBRE’s David Gheriani represented Refrig-It Warehouse in the deal, while the CBRE team of William Waxman, Mindy Lissner and Ben Shapiro represented ownership. Meantime, Refrig-It has hired Eric Brown, Eric Wagner and Mike Wood of CBRE’s New Jersey project management team to assist with permitting and infrastructure build-out.
“Given the trend of increased demand for cold storage and food-grade spaces in the market, finding a strategically located building was a necessity,” Gheriani said. “Working together with our brokerage team, we were able to pair Refrig-It with a newly developed property located in Port Newark’s epicenter with easy access to New York City.”
Sitting on 14.85 acres, Portside Distribution Center provides quick access to interstates 78 and 95 and other major New Jersey highways, CBRE said. The property is also 1.8 miles from Port Newark-Elizabeth and 4.1 miles from Newark Liberty International Airport.
The warehouse space will feature cooler and freezer storage, 40-foot clear heights, cross-dock configuration, 22 loading docks, 38 trailer stalls and a backup generator.
Its newest tenant offers temperature-controlled spaces ranging from 0 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a news release. The company handles and stores temperature-sensitive food and ingredients, while offering warehouse management software that provides customers with real-time access to information.
