A developer has broken ground on a new cold storage facility in Portland.
Construction on the future Maine International Cold Storage Facility is expected to ramp up substantially by October and the facility is scheduled to open in February 2024.
“The working waterfront is a staple of Portland and an important facet of our economy, supporting commercial fishermen and facilitating international trade that has put Maine on the map,” Gov. Janet Mills said at Monday’s groundbreaking. “With this new and much-needed state-of-the-art cold storage facility, we are expanding Maine’s competitive edge on the international stage by ensuring that businesses are able to keep food production, storage, and distribution local — rather than out of state — and saving them money on transportation costs. This is a win for our fishermen, our local businesses, and our economy – and I am glad to get it done in a climate-friendly way.”
The 107,000-square-foot facility is being developed by Amber Infrastructure Group in partnership with Treadwell Franklin Infrastructure and the Maine Department of Transportation. Construction is expected to cost $55 million, including $8 million provided by the Department of Transportation.
It will also feature a rooftop solar array with the capacity to generate 828,000 kilowatt hours.
With the new facility, European cargo shippers who would otherwise have to temporarily store food in Boston can deliver it here. It will have capacity for about 22,000 pallets. It will have an estimated economic impact of $500 million to $900 million each year.
Portland has tried to market the city waterfront to large food transportation shippers before. Atlanta-based Americold dropped plans to build a similar facility in 2018, citing high construction and operational costs. It successfully bid for the site in 2015.
The project was opposed by West End residents who unsuccessfully pushed for the city to reject it two years ago.
