A $16.8M portfolio sale in Fresno includes this 164,198 square-foot cold storage facility. Photo via Google Street View

A 164,198-square-foot cold storage facility in south Fresno — built and formerly operated as a Zacky Farms plant — has been purchased for $16.8 million.

The buyer is Southern California-based restaurant supply company S.J. Distributors, Inc. The seller is Producers Cold, LLC, which offers third-party cold logistics services. Kennedy Wilson Brokerage, a division of Beverly Hills-based Kennedy-Wilson Properties, Ltd., completed the sale with Adam Elomari representing the seller.

 

The transaction includes two structures — the cold storage facility at 2950 E. California Ave. and a 54,000 square-foot building nearby used for chilled processing at 2222 S. East Ave.

The property’s central location near Highways 41, 99 and 180 made it an attractive opportunity. Inventory is low and demand for cold storage space has been high — as is the cost of new construction.

The result has been a demand shift from major cities in the Bay Area and Southern California to Central California, where rents are affordable, space is available and highway access is common, said Elomari, an associate with Kennedy Wilson Brokerage.

“We are pleased to have helped our client navigate a sale-leaseback transaction that included space planning challenges and shifting timelines around negotiations,” Elomari said.

A prepackaged meal company previously leasing around 30,000 square-feet of space from the previous owner will remain, with S.J. Distributors taking the rest as an expansion into the Fresno area. The company supplies restaurants with fresh deliveries including meat, poultry and fish, Elomari said.

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