Kansas City, Kansas-based Associated Wholesale Grocers announced July 18 it was closing its facility in Fort Worth and laying off 208 workers.
Now, CBRE’s National Food Facilities Group, consisting of Kevin Kelly, David Sours, and Lucy Durbin, has been retained to market the former Associated Wholesale Grocer’s distribution center located at 7550 Oak Grove Road in Fort Worth.
The grocery distribution center is the largest refrigerated food distribution facility to become available in the Dallas-Fort Worth market in over 10 years and presents a rare opportunity for a food distributor or manufacturer to occupy a large, well-maintained, refrigerated distribution center with modern clear height and configuration, according to CBRE.
“This facility was purpose-built to the highest industry standards by Albertson’s and was later acquired in an off-market transaction by Associated Wholesale Grocers,” said Kevin Kelly, a senior vice president with CBRE’s Food Facilities Group. “Both companies are industry leaders within the grocery and wholesale grocery categories respectively and run best-in-class operations.”
“We anticipate broad interest from various sectors of the food industry, both distributors and manufacturers, due to the rarity of the facility, “Kelly said.
Situated on 90.68 acres, the property spans nearly 1.2 million square feet, including almost 400,000 square feet of freezer, cooler, and temperature-controlled space with robust industrial refrigeration systems capable of supporting significant refrigerated expansion. The rail-served facility has clear height of 31 to 36 feet, heavy power with redundancy, onsite truck maintenance and fueling, as well as abundant loading, car parking, and trailer parking with further room for expansion. The property offers energy-efficient systems, including T-5 lighting with motion sensors, according to CBRE.
“This is an ideal location for logistics in Dallas/Fort Worth with immediate proximity to major interstate arteries, I-35W and I-20, which provide convenient north/south and east/west routes,” said Lucy Durbin, senior associate with CBRE’s Food Facilities Group. “The property is rail-served by UP & Fort Worth Western and is situated within Carter Industrial Park, a quality corporate industrial park with an extensive food industry presence. Major food industry players in the immediate area include Tyson Foods, Bimbo Bakeries, Ben E Keith Company, Save-A-Lot, Lineage Logistics, Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee, and the Schwan Food Company.”
On July 18, Associated Wholesale Grocers announced their impending closure of the Fort Worth distribution center and sale of the facility to an investor. CBRE represents the investor and has begun marketing the facility to the food industry.
CBRE’s National Food Facilities Group provides highly specialized real estate services exclusively within the food distribution, food processing, and cold storage sectors.
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