Public-Private Partnership to Start Construction on $19.1M Facility at Port Tampa Bay

TAMPA, FLA. — A public-private partnership that includes Port Logistics Tampa Bay I Inc. and Port Tampa Bay will start construction on a 130,000-square-foot cold storage food products facility at Port Tampa Bay early next year. Set to open in November 2016, the $19.1 million intermodal facility will employ 50 full-time workers and up to 200 part-time workers. The Tampa Port Authority Board recently approved a 27-year lease to Port Logistics Tampa Bay I for the 13.7 acres where the facility will be developed on Hookers Point in downtown Tampa. The Tampa Port Authority has engaged Atlanta-based Batson-Cook Co. as contract manager for the project. The facility will accommodate 8,000 pallet positions in several different rooms with independent temperature controls for produce and perishables. The building will include office space for truckers and regulators such as USDA and Customs officials, and 15 temperature controlled doors for truck shipments. The project team includes George Livingston, principal of Port Logistics; Huie, an investment banker in Hong Kong; Seatrade; Time Definite Services; and Canton Port Services.