SpartanNash has sold four food production and distribution facilities to Provender Partners, a California-based real estate investment company that specializes in food-related properties, for $29.9 million, according to a Tuesday press release.
The portfolio includes refrigerated facilities in Indianapolis and Minot, North Dakota, as well as a center in Lakeland, Florida, that handles frozen and refrigerated foods. Provender is also acquiring a grocery and produce distribution cross-dock facility in Newcomerstown, Ohio. The four facilities together occupy about 483,000 square feet, Provender said.
Provender intends to lease the facilities it is purchasing from SpartanNash to grocers, foodservice providers and logistics companies, Provender Vice President Edward McLaughlin said in a statement. The company has in the past leased facilities to clients including Sprouts Farmers Market, Dollar General and HelloFresh, according to the announcement.
Provender plans to upgrade refrigeration equipment, undertake roof repairs and make other improvements to the facilities before making them available for lease. The firm has already received expressions of interest for two of the buildings from potential users, McLaughlin said.
SpartanNash put the distribution centers up for sale earlier this year, according to the press release. The company took possession of three of the facilities as part of a 2016 transaction with Caito Foods Service through which the grocery distributor and supermarket operator gained control of Caito’s produce-distribution operations and its fresh-cut fruit and vegetable business. SpartanNash already owned the facility in Minot at the time of the deal with Caito, which was valued at more than $200 million, a spokesperson said in an email.
Provender’s purchase of the centers from SpartanNash builds on its recent acquisitions of other cold storage and temperature-controlled properties.
The deal with SpartanNash comes after Provender’s announcement in December 2020 that it had formed a joint venture with an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management to invest in cold storage processing facilities.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that SpartanNash acquired the facility in Minot included in its deal with Provender Partners from Caito Foods Service. SpartanNash owned that facility prior to acquiring assets from Caito in 2016.
