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Written by Kelly Sanchez on November 19, 2025
A state-of-the-art hub being created as part of a partnership between Miami International Airport and PortMiami to sanitize incoming goods and provide cold storage for them is in its engineering and design phase and is expected to open in 2027.
“Our timetable is to have 100% approval, designs likely by early permit Q2 of ’26, and then it’ll take us about 13 months to construct,” said Mandich Group Managing Partner and Cold-Link Logistics President Michael Mandich.
As previously reported by Miami Today, the goal for the phytosanitary treatment and cold chain processing facility is to increase trade in products that arrive in the U.S. through South Florida, including fruits, vegetables, flowers and other plant-based and perishable items.
“Think of pests that come off the field – this eliminates that,” Mr. Mandich said. “There’s added benefits, like shelf life extension, which is huge in the produce industry, and we’re also saving extraordinary time via the proximity of South Florida to South and Central America. Also, our access to Miami International Airport, the seaport, really becomes a logistical win for a lot of big producers, shippers, freight forwarders throughout South and Central America.”
The airport and seaport are working with cold storage investment and development firm Mandich Group and its operating division, Cold-Link Logistics, as well as Reveam, an Atlanta-based company that makes and operates food safety technology and treatment facilities, to develop the new facility.
The project is estimated to cost $141 million, with Mandich Group contributing $98.5 million and PortMiami providing $9 million as well as a $33.5 million federal grant it received.
“Currently this week, we’re gonna hit our 60% review,” Mr. Mandich said. “We’re in the engineering and design phase, so we’re about two-thirds of the way through our review, approvals with the county, with our team at Cold-Link and Reveam, who’s also a tenant and an owner of the facility.”
The hub will span more than 340,000 square feet at 7449 NW 12th St. and feature refrigerated warehousing, loading docks and office space. It’s “expected to support over 200 jobs and reduce spoilage and inspection delays for over 1.5 million tons of agricultural cargo annually,” according to a press release.
“This is … a game changer for the logistics and competitiveness for the South Florida market to be able to attract these types of products to come through… Miami will create jobs, economic opportunity and volumes through the port, through the airport, and so we offer a pretty robust wage and working opportunity,” Mr. Mandich said. “We have to compete against other cities, ports, industries, and this just will make us pretty much the state-of-the-art option for these users. We’ll handle pretty much all warehousing services from fulfillment to storage, picking, packing, you name it, for our end customer.”