A 15-acre property in East Ladner that had received preliminary approval for a cold storage facility has gone up for sale.
Listed at $45 million, the property at 10555 64 Ave. is noted has having been approved at third reading for cold storage and food processing, with final approval possibly soon. It’s also noted the site is “Zoned for all Agri-Industrial uses including Cold Storage and Warehousing.”
One site notes the “Delta Fresh” property “offers unlimited potential, whether envisioned as an agricultural space, or equity building processing area” and the “expansive land and strategic location provide a versatile canvas for a wide range of ventures.”
A sales brochure titled The Delta Fresh Advantage notes the project can evolve to suit with more customization options than a ready-built project.
According to the City of Delta, the cold storage project has not been cancelled by the applicant, and it remains at third reading.
The application received third reading by council following a public hearing in February 2023.
Still requiring several conditions to be met before final approval, the project would see the development of the site adjacent to the Highway 91 interchange by 104 Street into the major industrial use.
The site had been zoned agricultural but was pulled out of the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) decades ago and is not being farmed.
The development would see one building with a total floor area of approximately 293,500-square-feet.
If approved, the cold storage warehouse and processing facility would be for fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
Large-scale cold-storage facilities are currently located mainly in the Fraser Valley or Washington State.
The public hearing saw a dozen speakers with the majority voicing opposition, most conveying a series of concerns regarding impacts to the adjacent Burns Bog.
The Delta Chamber of Commerce had previously endorsed the proposal, saying Delta Fresh is a “perfectly positioned example of how heavily compromised agricultural land, which is no longer suitable for farming, can be utilized to benefit both the farming community as well as local consumers.”
The farming industry also conveyed support including BC Fresh president and CEO Murray Driediger, who wrote to council, “Over the last two decades, almost all of the vegetable processing plants in B.C. have disappeared. The local B.C. industry would be well served if there was access to a local multi-purpose processing facility capable of developing product lines suitable for today’s changing market.”
If the development goes ahead, truck access to the site would be confined to the Highway 91 at 64 Avenue interchange.
Over a decade ago, a plan by Earth King Investments was pitched to develop the property into a housing complex for seniors.
At that time, the site was described as not adequate for farming.
That application was discussed at the city advisory committee level but eventually shot down, never making it to the council table.
