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Tall Lettuce Farm To Rise in Houston Industrial Building
It will be the fourth facility for the company, which opened a large Orlando location this year after proving the concept with The HyCube, a modular vertical farm built to supply the Marriott Orlando World Center on-site in 2018
July 31, 2020
Kalera, an Olrando, Fla., company, has selected a new industrial building in the northeast Houston submarket for what would be its largest hydroponic farm yet, producing nearly 5 million pounds of artisan lettuces a year as part of a strategy to grow food near where it is consumed in a high-tech, earth-friendly manner.
It will be the fourth facility for the company, which opened a large Orlando location this year after proving the concept with The HyCube, a modular vertical farm built to supply the Marriott Orlando World Center on-site in 2018.
At 83,436 square feet, the building, at 7159 Rankin Road in Humble, will be 2½ times the size of the newest Orlando farm, and about 12 percent larger than one going up in Atlanta. The vertical farms are part of a plan to scale the company across North America and globally.
“What we’re doing is bringing back what used to always be the normal, which is to eat where you are, and to eat produce that is not weeks old,” said Daniel Malechuk, CEO of Kalera.
Kalera wants to take a bite out of the lettuce market, which is concentrated on traditional farms in California and Arizona. Its cleanroom technology process eliminates both the need for pesticides and washing and processing the lettuces to prepare them for shipment up to 1,200 miles or more by truck.
The Kalera farms, which grow lettuces by stacking them in LED-lit warehouses, are designed to use 95 percent less water than traditional farms. It takes six weeks from seed to harvest, shaving about two weeks off the traditional timeline. The process also protects against pathogens such as E. coli.
With COVID-19, consumers have a heightened concern for where products come from and how many people have touched them, said Malechuk.
When it opens in late spring 2021, Kalera will work with local grocers and major food distribution companies to deliver produce to stores, restaurants, schools, hotels, hospitals, and cruise lines the same day harvested. The prices will be in line with traditional artisan lettuces, Malechuk said.
The facility, which will employ 55 to 70 people, will serve Houston as well as markets within a few hours away by truck. Lettuce harvested in the morning could be served at a restaurant in Dallas the same evening.
Kalera is the first tenant in Parc 59, a two-building development of Jackson-Shaw and Thackeray Partners off U.S. 59, just north of Beltway 8. It’s leasing the rear-load building with a clear height of 28 feet. A cross-dock building with 196,064 square feet and clear height of 32 feet is available for lease. The building is suited for warehousing, manufacturing, distribution, and assembly.
“The building’s prime location in Houston was the perfect fit for all of Kalera’s needs to serve its customers seamlessly and deliver high quality, fresh products to the Houston market and regionally,” Grant Pearson, vice president of development at Jackson-Shaw, said in an announcement.
Jason Dillee and Nathan Wynne of CBRE represented the landlord, while Mike Spears and Derek Riggleman of Lee & Associates represented Kalera in the 10-year lease. Terms were not disclosed.
The Parc 59 project team includes Cadence McShane as a general contractor and Powers Brown Architecture.
katherine.feser@chron.com
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PHOTOS:
1. Malechuk holds a head of lettuce at HyCube, Kalera’s vertical farm on-site at the Photo: Kalera
2. Kalera uses cleanroom technology and processes to eliminate the use of chemicals at its vertical farms. The Orlando-based company says its lettuces consume 95 percent less water compared to field farming. Photo: Kalera
3. Kalera, a vertical farming company, leased a new 83,436-square-foot building in Parc 59 at 7159 Rankin Road in Humble. Jackson-Shaw developed the two-building, 279,500-square-foot Parc 59 with equity partner Thackaray Partners . Photo: Jackson-Shaw
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Katherine Feser covers a variety of subjects for the Houston Chronicle Business section. She coordinates some of the paper's most popular special sections, including the Chronicle 100, Home Price Survey, and Top Workplaces. She compiles many of the staples of the section, including the daily markets page, People in Business, event listings and real estate transactions.
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Kalera Opens Texas’ Largest Vertical Farming Facility in Houston
Houston farm will be the company's newest and largest yet, joins farms in Orlando and Atlanta
Houston farm will be the company's newest and largest yet, joins farms in Orlando and Atlanta
July 13, 2020 | Source: Kalera
The new Houston facility, which will be the largest vertical farming facility in Texas, is the next step in Kalera’s rapid domestic and international expansion plan to bring consumers fresh leafy greens right where they are.
ORLANDO, Fla., July 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, technology-driven vertical farming company Kalera announced that it will open a new state-of-the-art growing facility in Houston, Texas in the spring of 2021. The new Houston facility — which will be the largest vertical farming facility in Texas — is the next step in Kalera’s rapid domestic and international expansion plan to bring consumers fresh leafy greens right where they are. By placing its farms directly in the communities that they serve, Kalera is able to supply national retailers and foodservice distributors without a long haul across the country, guaranteeing that its leafy greens are fresher longer, and much safer than field-grown lettuce.
The new facility is being announced a mere two months after Kalera announced it will be opening a new facility in Atlanta in early 2021—an announcement that took place less than two months after it opened its second Orlando, Florida farm. While Kalera’s Atlanta farm is slated to be the highest production volume vertical farm in the Southeast, the new Houston facility will be even larger and will generate dozens of new jobs for the local Houston community. Kalera’s Houston farm’s lettuce will be available at retailers and foodservice distributors, as well as through the hospitality and travel industry.
Retailers, distributors, and food services facilities interested in carrying Kalera’s lettuce can connect with the sales team at orders@kalera.com.
Kalera is able to quickly open its newest growing facility in Houston as a result of a streamlined design and construction process, further illustrating its ability to rapidly scale and expand its vertical farms. As Kalera accelerates its growth over the next few years, it will continue to open additional facilities, expanding production capacity throughout the US and internationally.
“In light of the global pandemic and seemingly endless food safety recalls, today, more than ever, consumers are demanding food that is local and that they can trust. Kalera is leading the way in the indoor-farming AgTech revolution and we are proud, especially in today’s environment, to bring the safest, purest, freshest, most nutritious, sustainable, non-GMO, pesticide-free lettuce to cities across the country as we continue our rapid expansion plan across America and prepare to open our largest facility to date,” said Daniel Malechuk, CEO of Kalera.
“Houston presents Kalera with a wonderful market for our produce, as it allows us to not only supply one of the largest cities in America, but also service cities throughout the region including Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, and New Orleans. Since we can easily supply produce within hours of harvest from this location to surrounding cities, Kalera can ensure the highest quality and freshness by delivering product to customers within hours of harvest, rather than days or weeks.”
The company utilizes cleanroom technology and processes to eliminate the use of chemicals and remove exposure to pathogens. With indoor facilities situated right where the demand is, Kalera is able to supply an abundance of produce locally, eliminating the need to travel long distances when shipping perishable products. Kalera's plants grow while consuming 95% less water compared to field farming.
In addition to its R&D center, Kalera opened its first commercial vertical farm, the HyCube growing center, on the premises of the Orlando World Center Marriott to bring fresh, local produce to the hotel’s visitors and customers. In March this year, it announced the opening of its second facility in Orlando, and in April, announced that it will open an Atlanta facility in early 2021. The Houston facility is the fourth farm in Kalera’s portfolio, and will soon be joined by more in the United States and around the world. Kalera also made headlines after pivoting their business strategy amidst the COVID-19 crisis, shifting from a foodservice-focus to land their produce in the aisles of Publix. During this time, Kalera also organized giveaways for the Orlando community, giving away tens of thousands of heads of lettuce to provide access to fresh, local, produce to residents.
About Kalera
Kalera is a technology-driven vertical farming company with unique growing methods combining optimized nutrients and light recipes, precise environmental controls, and cleanroom standards to produce safe, highly nutritious, pesticide-free, non-GMO vegetables with consistently high quality and longer shelf life year-round. The company’s high-yield, automated, data-driven hydroponic production facilities have been designed for rapid rollout with industry-leading payback times to grow vegetables faster, cleaner, at a lower cost, and with less environmental impact.