CHICAGO, IL – November 12, 2020 – As the demand for cold storage facilities intensifies, Karis Cold Storage, a Chicago-based cold storage investment and development platform, today announced that it closed on a recapitalization of the company to admit an affiliate of Winter Properties, in addition to its existing investor, a client of BLG Capital Advisors. The recapitalization—including a significant capital commitment from the investment partners structured through a programmatic joint venture—will grow Karis Cold into a leading, national cold storage investment and development platform. In addition to Winter and BLG, the platform’s operating company is owned by Karis Cold’s key principals, Jake Finley, Michael Smith and Brian Niven.

As part of the new venture, Karis Cold recently closed on two development sites in Los Angeles and Denver, the latter of which is anticipated to be a build-to-suit opportunity with one of the largest cold storage operators in the country. Karis Cold also owns an existing cold storage facility in Chicago.
With its expansive development pipeline, Karis Cold will pursue and execute a variety of deal structures within the complex cold storage sector, including state-of-the-art, build-to-suit solutions, sale leasebacks, and redevelopments of existing temperature-controlled facilities. With Winter and BLG, Karis Cold is well-positioned to address the unmet real estate and facilities needs of today’s food and beverage companies, pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, floral suppliers and third-party logistics partners that operate cold storage facilities. 

“Cold storage buildings are somewhat of a blend between infrastructure assets, operating businesses and traditional industrial properties,” said Karis Cold CEO Jake Finley. “In BLG and Winter, we are thrilled to have partners who understand our unique assets, and who complement our team’s deep expertise in cold storage development and operations.”

“Karis Cold’s focus and expertise in a growing niche industrial sector with significant demand drivers, and led by a talented team, made this investment compelling to us,” said Winter Properties President Rick H. Singer. “We are committed to scaling the Karis Cold platform with our partners and look forward to long-term success in this venture.” 

“We’re excited to be moving forward in partnership with Karis Cold and Winter, continuing our private equity focus on opportunistic and value-oriented commercial real estate transactions by providing growth capital to best-in-class operating platforms and management teams,” said BLG Capital Advisors Managing Director Jon Bilton.