Two Paths to Cold Storage: Lessons from Adaptive Reuse and Build-to-suit

Kathryn Hamilton, CAE for Market Share Blog | September 2, 2026

As cold storage developers navigate a market that has shifted from rapid speculative growth toward more selective development, two approaches are emerging as practical ways to meet demand: adapting existing industrial buildings and developing highly customized facilities for users with specific operational needs.

At a session at CREDA’s I.CON Cold Storage this week in Dallas, moderator Steven Majich, managing director of development at BentallGreenOak, led a discussion with Cliff Booth, founder and chairman of Westmount Realty Capital, and Axel Anderson, head of development at Yukon Real Estate Partners. Their two case studies illustrated very different paths to delivering cold storage – one through the transformation of an aging industrial property and the other through a ground-up, manufacturing-attached build-to-suit.

Adaptive Reuse: Turning an Aging Distribution Center into a Cold Storage Asset

When Westmount Realty Capital acquired the roughly 1.1 million-square-foot Garland Logistics Park in Garland, Texas, in 2012, the property was far from a pure cold storage facility. Originally built by Safeway and later used as a Tom Thumb food distribution center, the 60-acre property was 68% leased and included some existing cold storage, but much of the building was dry warehouse space.

The opportunity was the location. Situated along the LBJ Freeway near Garland Road and an interstate exit, the property provided access and scale that made converting additional space to cold storage potentially viable. Rather than undertake one massive conversion, Westmount took a phased approach, converting individual areas ranging from 40,000-80,000 square feet into refrigerated space.

The building itself presented challenges. It was older, with clear heights below 16 feet – considerably less than what is common in newer cold storage facilities. Westmount nevertheless found ways to make the existing structure work, including moving tenants within the property to create opportunities for additional conversions while minimizing downtime.

The biggest opportunity ultimately came from a tenant relationship involving a third-party logistics provider whose client was Kraft. Kraft operated a manufacturing plant in Garland and had incentives from the city to maintain its local workforce and operations. The existing 3PL lease was below market and was set to expire during Westmount’s ownership, creating both a risk and an opportunity.