Forget the Cone... Just Buy the Whole Ice Cream Plant

Westcore just bought a former Dreyer’s ice cream plant in Union City and we have the sweet details. (That's one way to get back at your parents.)

The 117k SF warehouse and manufacturing facility at 1250 Whipple Rd consists of two adjacent buildings with an interior pass through, Westcore senior leasing associate Meghan Sandlin tells us. Because it's a former ice cream plant, it's got heavy power and infrastructure for 50k SF of freezer space with a 60k SF food production area. (And if our childhood dreams are true, it also has many magical fairies living there.) The off-market deal churned up competing offers, according to Avison Young's Kevin Ahaesy, who repped both sides of the deal and is now charged with leasing the site out. (The seller was a private investor, and the price is undisclosed.) He's seeing more buyers like Westcore redevelop older properties into a higher and better use.   

Westcore plans to do extensive upgrades to make it a premiere food grade distribution facility, he says. Kevin thinks a food user that requires a large freezer component and ample parking for fleet vehicles would be ideal. Westcore is so confident in Union City's industrial market that it's about to build four buildings totaling over 300k SF. Meghan's seeing tenants move their warehouses to Hayward and Union City as they get priced out of the Peninsula. She has seen Union City rents increase 4% or 5% over the last six months or so as availability tightens.