A commercial bread company and developer of cold storage facilities have paid a combined $23.5 million for 114 acres near the Osceola Parkway – Florida’s Turnpike interchange that was rezoned last year to allow for a million square feet of industrial uses.
The property, which spans both sides of Osceola Parkway, is known as the Constellation Planned Development after the rezoning changed it from mixed-use to industrial. The vacant land was owned by the heirs of the late Wendell “Jock” Spears, who was the original developer of the adjacent Walmart-anchored Gateway Commons shopping center.
At the time, the site was under contract to Constellation Real Estate Partners, a Texas firm seeking entitlements to build a logistics center there.
Jared Bonshire, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield, was working with Constellation, and when they backed out of the deal he quickly brought new buyers to pick up the contract.
“It was an off-market transaction in which I essentially engaged with the ownership trust and the decision maker who was helping them and advising them, which was Christy Wilson, but they did not necessarily engage me as their broker,” Bonshire said. “They basically said if you can find a buyer, we would be happy to discuss, which I did.”
The trust sold the 55 acres north of Osceola Parkway on March 28 for $11.5 million to an affiliate of Chicago-based Turano Baking Co.
The parcel reserves 29 acres for conservation and already has a retention pond sized to accommodate the future development.
The 68 acres on the south side of Osceola Parkway sold on May 30 to Karis Cold, a private investment and development company with expertise in the cold storage industry. The Naples-based company paid $12 million for the two parcels, which had previously been approved for a mix of commercial space and multifamily housing.
Bonshire said Karis had been under contract for the entire PD when he learned that Turano was scouting locations in Osceola County. Karis agreed to a deal to flip Parcel 1 as a pass-through to Turano Baking.
Bonshire said Karis initially planned to build a speculative freezer cooler facility on Parcel 2 and a dry storage warehouse facility on Parcel 3 with a combined 500,000 square feet. Those plans could change if they are able to secure end-users prior to construction.
Karis Cold has been expanding rapidly this year, with new speculative cold storage projects approved in Charlotte and Rock Hill, South Carolina. The company also has two projects in the pipeline for Florida.
In Daytona Beach, Karis Cold is building three refrigerated warehouses with a combined total of 807,585 square feet. In Jacksonville, the company is pursuing plans for 265,264 square feet of cold storage, loading dock and office space.
Source: GrowthSpotter
