ARCO National Construction is partnering with RealCold, an affiliate of the New York-based, multi-strategy real estate private equity manager Related Fund Management (RFM), on a national expansion of its cold storage logistics business. ARCO National Construction was selected to construct the first two new builds of RealCold’s domestic network. The cold chain company already has five existing facilities and plans to be in four additional major markets in the next three years. A nationwide leader in the construction of cold storage facilities, ARCO is providing design-build services for the 386,000 and 312,500 square foot facilities located in Lakeland, Florida, and Lockhart, Texas, respectively.

“ARCO is thrilled to work with RealCold to design and construct the first two facilities in its plan to bring cold storage space to multiple markets across the U.S.,” says Brian Westre, Vice President and Cold Storage Industry Leader for ARCO National Construction. “The RealCold team is clearly poised to launch a highly successful strategy unit for RFM, and we are grateful to be a part of that.”

Keith Goldsmith, CEO of RealCold, notes, “With ARCO’s partnership, RealCold is on a journey to provide state-of-the art facilities to the nation’s aging cold chain infrastructure.  We are selecting consumption-driven markets, like Lakeland and Lockhart, which can service millions of consumers, whether through e-commerce fulfillment or via their favorite retailers and grocers.  We are thrilled that these hubs will support our goal of ushering in a new era of cold chain excellence.”

The facilities will each include state-of-the-art convertible freezer space capable of accommodating temperatures -20°F to 50°F. The projects’ strategic locations each off next-day delivery to more than six million people in a 100-mile radius. Both facilities are estimated to be completed in Q1 2025.