Nov 11, 2004 11:12 AM, from staff and wire reports

Frozen Assets Cold Storage LLC, a third-party logistics company formed in March 2004, has begun operations in a new 7,000,000-cubic-foot public refrigerated warehouse and distribution facility on Chicago IL’s near-Southwest side.

According to Thomas Smith, company president, security received special attention in planning the facility. Its high-tech security system includes a retina-recognition personnel entry management system and 24-hour monitoring of some 30 video cameras situated throughout the building.

The 250,000-sq-ft, single-level facility is at 2635 South Western Avenue and features an 18,000-pallet freezer, a 10,000 pallet-position cooler, and three –35-degree blast cells, each with space for 45 pallets. It has 22 truck bays that open to a 40,000-sq-ft inbound-outbound dock—and in a Chicago public refrigerated warehousing “first”—it also has a 10-door refrigerated rail siding.

This facility was developed for Frozen Assets Cold Storage by Urban Investment Research Corp, a Chicago-based real estate development and investment firm that is also a partner in the new logistics enterprise. Financing was arranged by First Bank & Trust Co of Illinois, a real estate-oriented institution that conducts business nationwide.