Graycor Construction Co., Oak Brook Terrace, Ill., topped out on the construction of a 628,713-square-foot high-capacity perishable distribution center for a big-box retailer.  

Graycor broke ground on the Shafter, Calif., distribution center in October 2018. The project features interior elements such as a 73-foot-tall high-capacity automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) that will be in place by the building’s delivery date of summer 2020.

“The combination of the cold storage construction, utility infrastructure, seismic design and building and technology requirements for the AS/RS make this the most sophisticated cold storage distribution complex we’ve ever built,” says Roger Sautter, Graycor construction manager.  “The future of this market is centered around designing and building efficient, high-capacity automated distribution centers.”

The 63-acre site includes an 84-foot-tall distribution center, as well as facilities for truck maintenance and fueling, pallet processing, hydrogen farm for battery charging, a generator farm and on-site fire pumps and tanks. The distribution center includes multiple perishable spaces with future expansion capabilities, 83 loading docks, an energy center and a single-story office. The AS/RS is designed to maximize automation of the distribution center processes.

Graycor will focus on completing the rest of the perishable spaces in sequence, the site paving, the various out-buildings and the landscaping over the next few months.