Demand from food and beverage users is outpacing available inventory

PHOENIX, AZ – Industrial experts in the Phoenix office of JLL are predicting a very hot year for Phoenix cold storage space – which is defined as industrial buildings that cater to food and beverage users. Traditionally, this category of space combines office/back office product with industrial-grade, climate controlled areas for freezer, cold storage and dry storage activity.

“There are more than a dozen food and beverage users actively looking in our market right now for cold storage space, but this is very specialized inventory that is expensive to build, and it is never developed on a speculative basis,” said JLL Managing Director Anthony Lydon. “That makes it challenging for tenants in the market to find space that is just the right size, with just the right mix of amenities to meet their needs. It is a signature proposition.”

Among these amenities are larger floorplates, modern 32- to 36-foot clear height ceilings and state-of-the-art cooling/freezer mechanical systems offering variable climate control for different food stuffs within different areas of the facility. Cold storage buildings also offer thicker, vented floors under the freezer area floor slab and chilled cold docks that eliminate any breaking of the “cold chain” throughout the supply chain.

“These buildings are so specialized to an occupier’s needs that, once they’re built, the user tends to stay in place for 15 to 30 years,” said JLL Managing Director Marc Hertzberg.

According to JLL’s Q1 2016 Phoenix Industrial Insight report, large users with buying power – and particularly those with specialized needs – are finding design-build options more and more attractive. For food and beverage users, a lack of available space will only further feed that trend.

For instance, Michael Lewis Company is building a 380,000-square-foot, 40-foot clear height freezer/cooler/dry warehouse in Goodyear, Arizona that will fulfill food services to airports throughout the Southwest. The building will have the most efficient cooling/freezer systems available, combined with modern roof and wall system insulation.

McLane Foods is another example of a food-grade employer who recently completed a new facility in Phoenix with a significant expansion of floor space, higher ceiling clear height and best-of-class cooling, insulation and sustainability designed into the building. “These types of uses demand extreme levels of power and energy, and therefore must have the newest in facility and mechanical design,” said Hertzberg.

“Cold storage users represent almost 3 million square feet of current industrial space demand in Phoenix. Unfortunately, the Valley currently has little, if any, available modern chilled space. This will lead to more newly constructed space solutions for this sector,” said Lydon. “As the Valley continues its robust demographic growth, and more and more cold storage operators seek space solutions, it will require many of them to do exactly what others have done before them: Take the build-to-suit route and organically build from the ground up.”

For more information from JLL’s Q1 industrial market reports, visit www.jll.com/phoenix/en-us/research.

After a presentation by the Arizona Coyotes CEO and owner Anthony LeBlanc, the Rio Nuevo District Board unanimously approved a $3.2M investment into the “back-of-the-house” of the TCC Arena to build out new locker rooms, weight rooms, and other components required by the American Hockey League.

The Board’s approval is subject to league approval and the finalization of an acceptable lease between the City of Tucson and the Coyotes. To assure that the Board recoups its expenditures, it will likely require a $2.00 surcharge on all hockey tickets sold and require that the team reimburse the District if they choose to leave before the lease terminates.

The Board also expressed an interest in investing in an offsite rink where the team could practice, along with the Arizona Wildcat Hockey team, which would double as a public skating rink when the teams are not practicing.

Mr. Le Blanc indicated the team would be interested in such a public/private partnership conversation.

In other action, the Board approved a $400,000 sponsorship of the new Arizona Bowl, to be held at the University of Arizona stadium around the Christmas holiday.  Board members will negotiate several downtown components to the bowl game with the hope to rival the events surrounding the Phoenix bowl games.

The Board also approved the agreement between the City and the District to take over the development agreement with the Gadsden Company for the property west of the freeway. Subject to City Council approval, this agreement will allow the District to partner with Gadsden and bring up 15,000 square feet of new retail on the vacant land west of I-10.

Unmanned helicopter control system brings flexible mission control to first US Navy littoral missions

SAN DIEGO, CA — Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command have deployed advanced mission control for the MQ-8 Fire Scout, an unmanned helicopter, aboard the Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado, which is now underway. Navy control hardware and Raytheon control software were combined for robust, flexible command and control of Fire Scout missions in littoral waters.

The USS Coronado is one of the Navy’s newest Littoral Combat Ships, designed to operate close to shorelines. Coronado’s deployment of Fire Scout extends the fleet’s situational awareness.

“Raytheon’s UAV ground controls help support Navy missions without putting sailors’ lives at risk,” said Todd Probert, vice president of Mission Support and Modernization at Raytheon IIS. “Our innovative technology is helping the U.S. military evolve standards of performance and reliability as they accomplish their critical missions more efficiently and effectively.”

Navy hardware and Raytheon’s software are built with an open architecture, maximizing flexibility to add new technology as needed. Under a related effort, the Navy’s Common Control System, or NCCS, will be able to control any air, ground, surface and subsurface vehicles as they deploy with the fleet. Built on the flexible foundation of Fire Scout MCS, that capability will reduce Navy-wide implementation costs and training requirements for unmanned systems.

“Our new Fire Scout MCS enables Fire Scout to bring more mission to more areas,” said Captain Jeff Dodge, U.S. Navy, Fire Scout program manager. “Fire Scout is a proven capability in dynamic littoral environments, and now provides the potential for multiple platforms to be controlled from a single MCS aboard the ship.”

USS Coronado is the first Littoral Combat Ship to use this upgraded Fire Scout MCS operationally, after logging 600+ hours of testing.