29.66°N · 95.47°W · OPERATING −10°F → 0°F
100,000 SF Frozen
Storage Buildout
Cold storage buildout inside a 180,000 SF Class A shell. Five independent sub-zero rooms. Engineered precision. Delivered in 5 months.
Did you know? The frozen build-out covered 55.6% of the shell.
The published project scope is 100,000 square feet inside a 180,000-square-foot shell: 100,000 / 180,000 × 100 = 55.6%. This separates the cold scope from the building around it. The project description also distinguishes refrigeration-ready infrastructure from final refrigeration equipment installed by the owner's contractor.
Calculation based on the project dimensions stated on this page. This is one Houston project, not a typical conversion ratio, utilization rate or cost saving. No use is assumed for the remaining shell area.
A 5-month deadline. 70% pre-sold capacity. No room for error.
We Store Frozen secured a 180,000 SF Class A distribution shell at 2304 Reed Road in Houston’s Lone Star Logistics Park, then needed 100,000 SF of it converted into five independent sub-zero rooms — operational in 5 months.
The pressure was real. The company was already 70% pre-sold before opening, with national tenants on the line and revenue tied to commissioning dates. Any miss on schedule, panel performance, or refrigeration spec would cascade across dozens of contracts.
The shell was new, but cold storage buildouts are unforgiving — vapor barrier integrity, panel joint detailing, and slab heat protection all have to be perfect the first time. Houston’s humidity and Gulf Coast climate raise the dew point stakes further.
Five rooms, sub-zero, engineered together.
Complete cold buildout. Engineered, executed, commissioned.
- 01
Thermal Envelope Engineering
5-inch insulated metal panel installation across all five rooms. Continuous vapor barrier system engineered for sub-zero conditions. Thermal break protection at every panel joint, penetration, and structural connection. Heated underslab glycol loop with sub-slab insulation to prevent frost heave.
- 02
Refrigeration-Ready Infrastructure
Mechanical room and piping infrastructure built for industrial ammonia refrigeration with glycol secondary loop. Independent climate control architecture for each 20,000 SF room. Final refrigeration equipment installed by owner’s refrigeration contractor.
- 03
Structural Integration
Panel-to-structure integration with existing Hines steel framing. Dock door sealing systems for cold chain continuity. High-speed roll-up doors at each room entry to minimize thermal loss during forklift traffic. MEP coordination with existing building systems.
- 04
Commissioning & Verification
Post-installation temperature mapping across all five rooms. Pulldown verification: all rooms reached target temperature within 72 hours. Recovery testing: less than 3°F variance after sustained door cycle simulations. Full commissioning documentation delivered for regulatory and customer onboarding.
Operational on time. 65 customers onboarded. A second facility followed.
All five rooms hit target temperature within 72 hours of commissioning, with zone uniformity within ±2°F and zero thermal failures since opening. The facility was distributing within two weeks of go-live.
Since opening, We Store Frozen has grown into one of Texas’s leading cold storage and logistics providers. The company now counts Costco, Walmart, CVS, and HEB among its customers, has been featured in Food Dive, and partnered with Zimark (a ZIM Integrated Shipping Services subsidiary) on AI-powered warehouse automation — reducing operational costs by 17% on the efficient thermal envelope we engineered.
The success of the first facility enabled We Store Frozen to expand to a second 180,000 SF Houston location in March 2025.
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From port-adjacent import facilities to multi-zone frozen distribution — we engineer cold storage from concept through commissioning. Houston-headquartered. Building nationwide.