SANBORN — At this time next year, a new warehouse within the Vantage International Point business park will make the warmer weather more bearable.
Groundbreaking took place Tuesday on the $13.45 million Polaris cold storage facility at 6410 Inducon Corporate Drive. It will boast 1.25 million cubic feet of cold storage, separated into five freezer storage areas, four coolers, and space for dry goods.
“When Donnie (Timm of TDH Refrigeration in Cheektowaga) and I started this, it was just a faint thought that somehow grew into an idea, and it turned into reality,” said Gregory Mulvey of Mulvey Construction in Lockport, one of the warehouse’s two owners along with Timm. ‘When I think back now, it really demonstrates a coming together of two families, work families and our immediate families and the friendships that we’ve had.”
Spaces will be rented out to pharmaceutical, food processing, and agricultural companies, with some possible tenants being Finger Food Products, Armada Logistics, which provides global supply chain work for McDonald’s, and Latina Boulevard Foods.
Timm and Mulvey previously told the Gazette they chose this site for its location near the Niagara Falls International Airport, the under-construction Amazon facility, and the Canadian border. They also said third-party software utilizing QR codes would be used for storage, giving the workers information on how long something should be stored, where it’s located, and what temperature to keep it at.
Since the warehouse was first proposed, the state Department of Environmental Conservation finalized regulations that prohibit the use of hydrofluorocarbons and hexafluoride for refrigeration, which are potent greenhouse gases. Polaris was initially planning on using these refrigerants, but Timm said they were starting to move away from them as they worked to get project incentives.
As a result, Polaris will instead use carbon dioxide-type refrigerant, with the cold storage spaces planned to go as low as -10 degrees Fahrenheit. It also had to spend 60% more on certain mechanical items used to meet these new climate requirements.
During construction, 65 to 75 people will be working on the site. Timm said 12 to 14 people will work the facility, skilled and unskilled when it is completely operational.
The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency last October approved nearly $3.4 million in tax incentives for this new warehouse, made up of a 15-year PILOT agreement worth $2.71 million, $604,000 in sales tax exemptions and $77,813 in mortgage recording tax exemptions.
NYPA also awarded 1,290 kW of low-cost hydropower to it this past May.