Jonathan Epstein highlights the explosive growth of cold storage development in the U.S., expanding from 215 million square feet in 2019 to 623 million square feet by 2024. However, he notes that even these figures may be undercounted, as they only include USDA-reported cold chain assets. Beyond traditional warehouse spaces, he discusses the increasing demand for cold storage in agricultural supply chains, protein processing, and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Epstein suggests that actual demand could be 30–50% higher than reported, reinforcing the significant opportunity in cold storage real estate investment and development.
