Port warehouse project gets underway

Port Logistics Refrigerated Services has begun construction on a cold storage warehouse at Florida's largest port.

The 134,000-square-foot on-dock warehouse, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2017 at Port Tampa Bay, can accommodate chilled and frozen products. Its 9,000 pallet positions will handle palletized breakbulk cargo and refrigerated containers.

The facility, which will sit on a 13.7-acre site adjacent to Berth 219, will include 96 refrigerated container plugs, onsite USDA/CBP inspection and fumigation services and a dedicated Gottwald mobile harbor crane.

Well-known Tampa developer Richard Corbett is partnering in the financing of the project on behalf of Port Logistics Refrigerated Services. Corbett was involved in the development of the International Plaza retail center in Tampa's Westshore business district, as well as retail centers throughout Florida and the United States.

“We are excited about this opportunity to partner with Port Logistics Refrigerated Services and Dick Corbett,” Port President and CEO Paul Anderson says in a statement. “This project supports our strategic plans for growth and diversification, as well as our recent terminal expansion investments, including the new post-Panamax container cranes which were commissioned in July.”

With nearly $15 billion in annual economic impact, Port Tampa Bay is Florida's largest port and the largest economic engine in west central Florida. The port, which supports nearly 80,000 jobs, handles a wide array of bulk, break bulk, containers and roll-on/roll-off cargoes, and is a major shipbuilding and repair center.