Mastronardi Produce--parent company of Sunset fruits and vegetables--has sold its 187,392-square-foot dry and cold storage warehouse facility in Laredo, Texas, to BH Properties in a short-term sale leaseback transaction. The 132-door cross dock facility is the first asset in Laredo for BH Properties, a real estate investment firm which has approximately 20% of its 10 million-square-foot commercial and industrial real estate portfolio in Texas.

 BH is considering several options with the building including expanding the cold storage area to meet the supply/demand imbalance for cold storage space in the market.

“Laredo itself is not a large city, but it is the largest inland port of entry into the U.S., and arguably plays a critical role for both the U.S. and Mexico economies,” said Andrew Van Tuyle, Senior Managing Director Investments.   “We have been searching for entry into Laredo for a long time, but not a lot of deals trade there.  Now that we have broken into the market, we hope this is the first of many for BH as our goal is to build significant scale in Laredo.”  

Located at 40767 Cannel St. on a 19-acre lot within the International Commerce Center, it was built in 2000 as a distribution center for Walmart.  Canada-based Mastronardi, one of the largest growers of produce in North America, acquired and upgraded the building in 2016 to meet its specific needs as a distribution center for vegetables and produce cultivated in Mexico for distribution in the United States.  The building features 115,194 SF of ambient cross-dock space and 56,727 SF of cooler space with 21’ clear heights and 15,000 SF of office space which includes driver amenities such as a lounge area, showers, and a laundry room.

The facility is located near the Laredo Colombia Solidarity Bridge, one of Laredo’s two commercial truck crossings between Mexico and the United States.  Approximately 14,000 trucks cross these bridges each day, according to the Laredo Economic Development Corporation.  

Under terms of the sale/leaseback, Mastronardi, will continue to occupy the building for the next five months until it relocates to a larger refrigerated facility in Laredo.