Imperial Brown brings jobs to Tucson with new manufacturing facility

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Imperial Brown, a leading manufacturer of custom walk-in refrigerators and freezers, will open a manufacturing facility in Tucson, AZ in 2023.

Tucson will be the company’s fourth facility, with additional facilities in Portland, OR, Salisbury, NC, and Prague, OK. Imperial Brown works with Harsch Investment Properties, a Portland, OR-based real estate development and investment firm but with significant stakes in Tucson. Together, the companies are building a 99,000-square-foot stand-alone building on the corner of E. Medina Road and Brosius Avenue. Construction of the ultra-modern facility is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2022. Imperial Brown has already relocated employees to the Tucson area to support the pre-construction and construction phases. After completion, the company plans to hire around 100 employees / owners at the new location in the Tucson Airport Distribution Center. The economic impact of the new facility will be $ 225 million over the next 10 years.

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“Tucson was selected after a year-long research into potential locations in the Southwest. It has beaten other cities in Arizona because of its balance of climate, demographics, cost of living, and population density. The Tucson factory will focus on bringing IB quality products and unparalleled service to the underserved region of the Southwest, ”said Justin Sandall, President of Imperial Brown. “With the addition of the Tucson facility to complement its existing factories, IB will now have 2/3 of the US population within 500 miles of its facilities. With soaring freight costs and a very bulky product, this level of distributed manufacturing is a strategic advantage for the company’s customers, many of whom have very large national presences and growth plans. “

Imperial Brown has grown steadily since the OR and NC manufacturing facilities were merged nine years ago. In 2012, Imperial Manufacturing of Portland, OR, WA acquired Brown & Son of Salisbury, NC, and merged the two companies to form Imperial Brown. With the merger, IB developed the industry’s first and only hybrid construction technology – blending methods used on both coasts to get the best of both worlds for its customers. The company then acquired Artic Temp in Prague, OK, and also moved into a new facility in Gresham, OR – more than double that facility. It has added and replaced technology and equipment in all facilities, reducing manufacturing footprint and redundancy and leveraging technologies to increase efficiency and improve product flow. The result has been a staggering growth in market share – including the fact that it is one of the few manufacturers to grow during the peak of the pandemic in 2020.

“We are honored to be part of the Tucson business community,” said Jordan Schnitzer, President of Harsch Investment Properties. “As a family business, we have the unique advantage of being able to shop and grow in communities like Tucson, bringing new businesses and job opportunities to the region, project-by-project.”

“We are very excited to welcome Imperial Brown and its new Tucson facility as our first build-to-suit tenant in Arizona. We have been able to provide the company with a facility that will meet the current and future needs of its business, ”said Bill Rodewald, Senior Vice President of Harsch Investment Properties. “The pre-letting of Building C during the pandemic shows the strength of the Class A specifications, design and flexibility of the Tucson Airport Distribution Center.”

The facility will be completed in January 2023 and will have 32 feet headroom, 72 to 90 feet deep truck spaces with trailer storage, ESFR fire protection, 105 car parking spaces, 24 dock positions and eight step doors. VLMK Engineering + Design designed the building and the Chasse Building team was selected as general contractor.

“The economies of Tucson and southern Arizona continue to thrive, even in a pandemic environment,” said Joe Snell, President and CEO of Sun Corridor Inc. “We are delighted to once again be the location of choice for an established, growing manufacturer.”

The Tucson Airport Distribution Center development site is located in the city of Tucson, just off I-10, I-19 and Tucson International Airport.

“We are very excited to welcome Imperial Brown to the city of Tucson,” said Mayor Regina Romero, City of Tucson. “We are committed to creating new jobs in our community and appreciate the investments that both Imperial Brown and Harsch are making in Tucson.”

“Promoting and supporting manufacturing jobs is an important growth strategy for our region,” said Chuck Huckelberry, Pima County Administrator. “We wish Imperial Brown every success and are ready to give you any assistance you need in filling these new positions.”

“We are delighted that Imperial Brown has selected Tucson to build its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for walk-in refrigerators and freezers,” said Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “Arizona’s low business costs, modern infrastructure and a highly skilled workforce provide an ideal environment for such manufacturing facilities. We look forward to continuing to support Imperial Brown’s success in the future. “

Project partners include Sun Corridor Inc., Pima County, City of Tucson, Arizona Commerce Authority, Harsch Investment Properties and the Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona.

Harsch was represented by Jesse Blum and Alex Demeroutis from Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR. Imperial Brown was represented by Stuart Skaug (Portland) and Tim Healy (Tucson) from CBRE.

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