Lease represents expansion from former site in Severn area of Anne Arundel County
Lee & Associates Maryland, a fully-integrated commercial real estate brokerage and management firm, has brokered a 110,000 square foot lease on behalf of Imperfect Foods within 7481 Coca Cola Drive in the Hanover section of Anne Arundel County. Allan Riorda, SIOR, Principal and President of Lee & Associates and Ned Brady, Senior Vice President and Principal of Lee & Associates represented the tenant in this transaction. Two years ago, Lee & Associates brokered a 76,000 square foot lease with the company at 8024 Telegraph Road in the Severn section of Anne Arundel County and this represents an expansion from that requirement.
Founded by Ben Simon and Ben Chesler to combat daily food waste, and headquartered in San Francisco, Imperfect Foods ships fruits and vegetables that are considered not suitable for sale in grocery stores directly to consumers’ homes. According to the company, approximately 20% of all produce grown in the United States never leave the farm and are either left in the field to rot or taken to a local landfill. The result is billions of pounds of fruits and vegetables discarded on an annual basis.
Imperfect Foods is configured as a subscriber service in which weekly orders, ranging from seven to nine pounds to 23 to 25 pounds, are shipped to families. The new location will continue to function as an East Coast distribution center. This spring, the company announced plans to hire more than 120 additional full-time workers to assemble and deliver its food boxes based on strong demand. Imperfect Foods indicates the company has recycled more than 116 million pounds of food since its founding five years ago.
“The Imperfect Foods model continues to resonate among consumers and the company needed a significantly larger space just two years removed from establishing operations in Severn,” stated Allan Riorda of Lee & Associates. “The company has benefitted from the pandemic as consumers increasingly eschewed grocery stores to shop for food on-line, combined with the desire among families to search for low-cost food options.
“The real estate search focused on refrigerated warehouses to support its logistics operations that covers much of the East Coast. It also was critical to secure a building located within close proximity to BWI Airport to expedite the receipt of fresh product that is critical to this use.”
Lee & Associates is a commercial real estate brokerage, management and appraisal services firm. Established in 1979, Lee & Associates has grown its service platform to include offices in the United States and Canada. Lee & Associates provides superior market intelligence in office, industrial, retail, investment and appraisal to meet the specialized needs of our clients. Visit https://www.lee-associates.com/offices/office/?id=1591
