Golden State Foods (GSF), Irvine, Calif., broke ground on a new distribution facility in McCook, Ill. The current facility, located at 16100 W. 103rd Street in Lemont, encompasses 72,000 square feet. When completed in May 2014, GSF’s McCook distribution center, to be located at 8901 West 47th Street, will total more than 158,286 square feet and will serve more than 460 McDonald’s restaurants in the Chicago and Midwest regions. The facility currently employs 180 associates, who will all continue their roles at the new facility.

“We are thrilled to be here today to break ground at our brand new facility in McCook,” says Charlie Stone, GSF Lemont general manager. “We look forward to continuing to offer superior service to our customers in the Chicago and Midwest regions, and our new facility will help us to achieve that objective.”

The new and improved facility, to be built by McShane Construction Co., Rosemont, Ill., will facilitate green and sustainable initiatives, including Gold status in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and will allow for contingency and long-term capacity. It will feature a two-story, 17,550-square-foot office component, while 135,120 square feet will be devoted to warehouse/distribution space offering a cross-dock configuration with a 40-foot clear height.

The new build-to-suit will include 52 truck docks, 54,000 square feet of dry storage space and separate maintenance building totaling 5,700 square feet.

The freezer/cooler area will incorporate a cascade refrigeration system that maintains 14,040 square feet of cooler storage at 34°F, 23,400 square feet of freezer storage at 10°F and 28,080 square feet of cooler dock staging at 34°F.

Golden State Foods was named one of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ Top 6 companies to watch in 2013.