PORT MANATEE — In 2017, a giant, new refrigeration building will open on port property, positioning the port as one of the five biggest cold-storage ports on the East Coast. And it won't cost Port Manatee a dime.
On Tuesday, the Manatee County Port Authority signed agreements under which Montreal-based steveadoring company Logistec will build the warehouse. Logistec will pay half of the estimated $17 million construction cost and will handle all aspects of the warehouse's construction. The Florida Department of Transportation will pay the other half, up to $10 million.
Planned to span more than 148,000 square feet, the warehouse will be the largest of its kind at Port Manatee. Fresh Del Monte, a longtime fruit shipper and processor at the port, is expected to use the building to store and process imports, including pineapple, bananas, melons and other tropical fruits. Logistec already moves Fresh Del Monte from ships at the port into existing cold-storage facilities there.
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