A large warehouse in the mountains of Western North Carolina sat vacant for years after it opened in 2019. After the property was converted into an indoor farming facility, it was quickly sold to a company that moved in as the sole occupant.
The sale was the winner of the 2024 CoStar Impact Award for sale/acquisition of the year for Asheville, North Carolina, as judged by a local team of real estate professionals familiar with the market.
Cervini Farms North Carolina, doing business as Lakeside Produce, sold the warehouse at 652 Lakeside Five in Mills River to Nourse Farms, a supplier of fruit plants to farmers and retailers.
The indoor farming sector has seen mixed success with two companies, AppHarvest and AeroFarms, both filing for bankruptcy in 2023. Lakeside Produce filed for bankruptcy in January before selling the North Carolina warehouse.
The marketing process was challenging because it required finding a buyer for a special-use building, said Rusty Pulliam, CEO of Pulliam Properties, which represented Lakeside Produce in the sale.
The North Carolina facility is equipped with indoor water tanks and hydroponics equipment to allow for growing plants indoors.
About the Project: Lakeside Produce, based in Ontario, sold the 822,000-square-foot warehouse for $26.5 million. The deal also included a detached 7,820-square-foot building. The buyer, Massachusetts-based Nourse Farms, is now the sole occupant.
What the Judges Said: The deal had a large impact on economic development in the area, said Austin Tyler, senior commercial real estate broker at Dewey Property Advisors.
They Made It Happen: James Wilson at Pulliam Properties represented Lakeside.