Port Tampa Bay and Port Logistics Tampa Bay I Inc., plan to start construction of a cold storage food facility at the port early next year. The 130,000 square-foot, $19.1 million facility will employ 50 full time employees and up to 200 part time workers. The building will include office space for truckers and regulators, such as U.S. Department of Agriculture and customs officials. The facility will receive, label, package and distribute temperature controlled food products from foreign ports. The Tampa Port Authority Board approved a 27-year lease on the 13.7 acre site for Port Logistics Tampa Bay I.
“We expect to operate almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said George Livingston, a Central Florida industrial developer and principal Port Logistics Tampa Bay I. “In our first year of operation, we expect to accommodate 100 vessels with 400,000 pallets, along with 70 to 80 trucks per day entering and leaving the facility.”
