A more than $50 million cold-storage warehouse is headed for a nearly 22-acre site at 15670 Wahrman Road in Romulus, right next to Interstate 275 and about 1.8 miles from Detroit Metro Airport. The speculative project, planned by Birmingham-based Interstate Capital, could support between 100 and 225 permanent jobs once complete, and the company is building it without a single tenant under contract.
The facility, previously known internally as Project Genron, would total 257,950 square feet, including 204,580 square feet of convertible freezer space, 30,850 square feet of cold-dock area, and 9,750 square feet of office and employee-support space, according to MLive. The building is designed with 38 exterior loading docks, two drive-in doors, and roughly 28,000 pallet positions, and it could be subdivided into spaces of approximately 65,000 square feet each to accommodate multiple tenants rather than a single occupant.
A Bet Placed Without a Tenant in Hand
Interstate Capital CEO and managing partner Greg Dilone Jr. said the company is willing to build ahead of demand when market fundamentals are undeniable, and he described speculative cold storage as a bigger financial bet than a conventional dry warehouse — but one he believes the market, location and timing justify. The company has already discussed the project with at least a dozen potential users, per the same MLive report, including food and grocery distributors, frozen-food companies, pharmaceutical and medical-product logistics operations, and other third-party logistics firms.
That willingness to build without a locked-in lease lines up with national industry data: the U.S. Department of Agriculture has found that 79% of refrigerated storage capacity in the country is outsourced by food producers to third-party logistics providers rather than managed in-house, a pattern that supports the case for speculative cold-chain construction. Metro Detroit's industrial real estate market adds to that case — the region ended 2025 with 502.5 million square feet of industrial inventory and a tight 3.7% vacancy rate, conditions that Cushman & Wakefield says rank the area among the Midwest's top markets for industrial expansion in 2026.
Zoning Approvals Clear the Way
Getting the project to this point required several local sign-offs. The Romulus Board of Zoning Appeals approved two variances on August 5, including a reduction of the required setback along I-275 from 80 feet to 59 feet and a building height allowance of 52 feet, exceeding the standard 45-foot zoning limit. Dan Onifer, Interstate Capital's director of development, said the additional height is necessary to maximize interior volume, and the finished building is planned with a 48-foot clear interior height to accommodate dense racking systems.
The Romulus Planning Commission granted conditional site-plan approval, and the Romulus City Council gave final approval for the special land use, the outlet reports. City planners concluded that the cold-storage use is compatible with the surrounding area, and a traffic analysis commissioned by the city found the development would have minimal impact on the surrounding road network. Construction is still subject to remaining approvals, permits, utility coordination, and refrigeration-equipment procurement, and Interstate Capital expects to begin construction this fall, with completion targeted for late 2027.
Following Penske's Lead on Wahrman Road
The Romulus site sits directly across Wahrman Road from Kroger's Romulus distribution operations, where Penske Logistics opened a $98.5 million, 606,000-square-foot freezer and cooler distribution center in June 2019. That facility, which brought more than 400 jobs to Romulus to exclusively supply Kroger's 120 Michigan stores, already established the area as viable ground for large-scale cold-chain warehousing. The new project would also have access to I-275, I-94, and I-75, giving future tenants direct highway routes across southeastern Michigan.
The site's location near Detroit Metro Airport adds another layer of appeal. FedEx completed a major expansion and consolidation of its air cargo sorting facility at DTW in August 2025 to handle higher outbound freight volumes, according to the Detroit Region Aerotropolis, which notes that DTW serves as a primary Midwest air hub for time-sensitive cargo, including pharmaceuticals. Interstate Capital says the proposed cold-chain hub could ultimately support manufacturers, food producers, pharmaceutical companies, trucking, air cargo, and cross-border commerce.
Timed to a New Cross-Border Bridge
The fall construction start comes weeks after the $4.7 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge opened to commercial traffic on July 27, connecting Windsor and Detroit with a six-lane highway link roughly 18 miles from the Romulus site — a milestone Hoodline previously reported alongside other regional infrastructure shifts. Bilateral trade between Michigan and Canada reached $68.1 billion in 2024, anchored by automotive and agricultural supply chains that depend on southeastern Michigan logistics corridors, according to the Detroit Regional Chamber. Michigan's agricultural exports hit a record $2.9 billion that same year, led by $636 million in processed food products, per the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the state produces more than 300 commodities that require specialized refrigerated storage and transport.
Interstate Capital is also pursuing similar projects in Marysville, Port Huron Township, and Kimball Township as part of a broader strategy to invest along the Michigan-Ontario trade corridor. The company announced in July that it plans to commit more than $300 million to build 4 million square feet across three sites in St. Clair County alone, part of a Midwest speculative build strategy that specializes in revitalizing industrial corridors in mid-sized Michigan markets, including Port Huron and Kalamazoo.
The Cost of Building Cold
Specialized cold-storage facilities cost between $150 and $350 per square foot to construct in 2026 — roughly two to three times the cost of standard dry warehouse space, which runs $25 to $90 per square foot, according to CBRE. That price gap underscores why Interstate Capital's more than $50 million commitment in Romulus represents a heavier financial lift than a typical speculative warehouse, with higher costs driven by insulated metal panels, heavy refrigeration systems, and thermal floor slabs. Whether the company will seek local tax abatements, how quickly it can finalize refrigeration-equipment procurement, and whether tenants ultimately lean toward food distribution or pharmaceutical air cargo given the site's proximity to DTW all remain open questions as construction approaches.
