Karis — Greek for “grace” — reflects the disciplined foundation on which our company was built. Since 2014, we’ve operated at the intersection of real estate and critical infrastructure, delivering cold storage, industrial, and data center projects with speed, scale, and certainty.
Karis was founded by Jake Finley with a focus on industrial acquisitions and development. From day one, the strategy was simple: control great sites, execute quickly, and create real outcomes for tenants and capital.
This operating discipline became the foundation for the platforms we would later build in cold storage and data center infrastructure.
Karis formed its first institutional joint venture focused on last-mile logistics demand for industrial logistics facilities, totaling $99M in development cost. The portfolio was later realized through $172M in institutional sales, generating a 3.6x MOIC.
This milestone validated the Karis approach: disciplined underwriting, strategic site selection, and execution that creates real outcomes for investors.
Karis took on complex infill development in Chicago, redeveloping a historic industrial site into a 260,000-square-foot speculative logistics facility.
Projects like this required navigating dense urban environments, legacy industrial land, and tight delivery timelines—exactly the type of development challenge where execution discipline creates value.
Recognizing a major supply-demand imbalance in temperature-controlled logistics infrastructure, Karis launched the Karis Cold platform.
Backed by strategic growth capital, the company began executing build-to-suit and speculative cold storage development to support the rapidly expanding food distribution and cold chain sector.
Following the successful execution of early industrial developments, Karis realized its initial portfolio and continued expanding its development capabilities.
During this period, the company formed a programmatic venture with the State Board of Administration of Florida, providing additional institutional capital to accelerate platform growth.
Karis accelerated expansion in the cold storage sector through a diversified development strategy, acquiring existing facilities while securing strategic development sites across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
These projects established a growing cold storage footprint across key logistics corridors supporting food distribution and supply chain resilience.
Karis broke ground on developments across multiple U.S. markets supporting global supply chains and expanding its cold storage infrastructure including Chicagoland, Charlotte, Norfolk, Daytona Beach, Jupiter, and Jacksonville.
These projects supported major operators and global supply chain participants while expanding the company’s development platform. During this period, Karis assets under management exceeded $1B.
Karis launched its data center platform, Karis Critical, focused on powered land and data center development.
The platform assembled more than 1,500 acres and 3GW of potential capacity, expanding the company’s development strategy into the rapidly growing data center sector.
Karis completed construction of its 100,000+ SF Chicago Stockyards Cold Storage facility, one of the few new cold storage developments delivered within the Chicago city limits in decades. Located in the historic Union Stockyards district, the project reflects Karis’ focus on complex urban infill logistics developments that bring modern supply chain infrastructure closer to consumers.
The building features a large-scale mural installation celebrating Chicago’s skyline and history, reinforcing Karis’ belief that industrial development can contribute positively to the communities it serves. Stockyards represents another milestone in the growth of the Karis Cold platform and demonstrates our ability to execute specialized temperature-controlled logistics projects in some of the most supply-constrained markets in the country.
