By JLL | Rose Law Group Reporter
The Phoenix office of JLL has completed a 300,100-square-foot lease to HelloFresh’s subsidiary Factor, America’s leading fully prepared meal delivery service. The lease is at Yuma|143, a still-under-construction, Class A, two-building industrial project being co-developed in Goodyear, Arizona by Chicago-based Baker Development Corporation (BDC) and New York’s Foundation Capital Partners (FCP), along with capital partner GTIS Partners.
The lease marks the second recent metro Phoenix industrial commitment by HelloFresh, the world’s largest meal-kit company, which operates in 16 markets across the globe. Factor will use the building as a regional packaging and production center, and expects to begin operation in Q4 2022. This new facility will fuel the next phase of Factor’s growth to serve new and existing customers in the West and Midwest regions.
The new production center is expected to generate approximately 800 or more new local jobs once fully operational.
“The City of Goodyear is very pleased to welcome Factor. We are glad they have chosen to locate their new facility in our growing community,” said Goodyear Mayor Joe Pizzillo. “Factor’s fully prepared healthy meals contribute to the health and wellness of their customers across the U.S. and this great addition to Goodyear provides new employment opportunities and continues to grow our economy, offering an enhanced quality of life for our residents.”
“We’re excited to be increasing our production capabilities in Arizona as we continue to grow Factor,” said Mike Apostal, CEO of Factor. “The new Goodyear facility accommodates the increasing demand for Factor, providing new and existing customers with fresh, healthy and convenient ready-to-eat meal solutions.”
The new Factor building will sit at 14170 W. Yuma Rd., between Litchfield and Bullard roads. It is being developed in tandem with an adjacent, fully speculative, 190,000-square-foot Class A industrial building. Both buildings are slated for completion by BDC in early Q1 2022. They sit immediately north of Phoenix Goodyear Airport and within two miles of Interstate 10, placing them within a 30-minute drive of 1.7 million residents and approximately 5 to 6 hours from the ports of Southern California.
“Goodyear has proven itself as a logistics frontrunner and is quickly becoming a light manufacturing hub, ranking as the ninth fastest growing city in the U.S. and the number two-ranked U.S. workforce market,” said Baker Development Corporation’s Principal Daniel Slack. “The city’s geographic, regulatory and demographic advantages are what encouraged us to build two best-in-class projects here, totaling approximately 1 million square feet. These attributes, when coupled with market forces such as re-shoring and supply chain disruptions, will continue to attract leading tenants like Factor. We welcome HelloFresh and Factor to Yuma|143.”
“GTIS is delighted to partner with Baker, the City of Goodyear and Factor on this exciting project,” said Stephen Tanenbaum, Managing Director at GTIS Partners. “Phoenix is a key target market for GTIS right now due to its impressive demographic growth and business-friendly climate. Yuma|143 also marks our second investment in an Opportunity Zone in the Phoenix metropolitan area and our fifteenth investment overall since inception of the firm.”
Yuma|143 is BDC’s fourth major Phoenix-area industrial development. It is preceded by VB|143, a $46 million, 325,000-square-foot Class A industrial project also located in Goodyear and also co-developed with FCP. In May, BDC purchased 28 acres just northeast of Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix for Park 52, a $100 million+ industrial park featuring 350,000 square feet targeting the last-mile/e-commerce user. In June, it purchased 81 acres in Surprise, Arizona for Cactus 303, a $150 million industrial park slated for 1 million square feet and six Class A buildings fronting the Loop 303, and complimented by approximately 16 acres of retail along the Cactus Road frontage.
HelloFresh was represented in its lease negotiations by JLL Managing Directors Marc Hertzberg and Anthony Lydon, Executive Managing Director Adam Citron and Associate Kelly Royle. JLL’s Hertzberg, Lydon and Senior Executive Vice President Riley Gilbert represented the building owner, a joint venture controlled by BDC and FCP.
“This was the perfect scenario – a Class A building under construction that allows Factor to complete process-specific modifications and a cold storage retrofit to meet their exact food-grade needs,” said Hertzberg. “It is a prime logistics location with an abundance of labor that will solidify their regional supply chain platform.”
Yuma|143 is located within the Goodyear Gateway South master-planned industrial park, surrounded by corporate neighbors such as FedEx, Quetico, Chewy and UPS. It offers Foreign Trade Zone / Magnet status, allowing up to a 72 percent reduction in real and personal property tax.
Factor is slated for move-in at Yuma|143 during Spring 2022.
