Bob Evans Farms is locking in serious freezer space in Fairborn, signing on as the sole tenant of a new state-of-the-art cold-storage warehouse that plugs a key gap in the I-70 and I-675 logistics corridor. The prepared-foods maker is getting a modern distribution hub close to major highways and airports, a setup that helps ease the squeeze in the region’s tight cold-chain market for Ohio food producers and distributors.
As first detailed by Columbus Business First, Bob Evans Farms will be the sole tenant at the Fairborn building, and the outlet credits Rowan Hetzer with the reporting.
Developer Crawford Hoying lists the facility at roughly 196,400 square feet, with about 156,293 square feet of freezer space, a 50-foot clear height, 28 dock doors and roughly 34,100 pallet positions, according to Crawford Hoying. The project description also cites more than 30,500 square feet of cold-dock area and notes that the site sits at the intersection of I-675 and State Route 235. Crawford Hoying says the project is slated to open in Q2 2026.
Why Bob Evans Signed On
Bob Evans Farms, an operating company that produces refrigerated and frozen prepared foods, is part of Post Holdings, according to Post Holdings. A dedicated cold-storage hub gives the company tighter control over its temperature-sensitive inventory and can cut the time products spend in transit between plants and grocery coolers, a key advantage for keeping breakfast staples and other prepared items in top condition.
Cold-Chain Building Spree In Central Ohio
Developers and investors have been on a steady buildout of modern freezer capacity across the Columbus region in recent years, and Fairborn is the latest to get in on the action. BGO Cold Chain and Crawford Hoying highlighted investor appetite when they closed a multi-million-dollar sale of a LEED Gold cold-storage building in Columbus, a deal that industry coverage said underscored tight demand for purpose-built cold-chain assets, per BGO Cold Chain.
Local Impact
The Fairborn site sits near I-675 and State Route 235, just minutes from the I-70 corridor, and that location positions it as a convenient consolidation point for grocery distributors serving Ohio and the broader Midwest, according to Crawford Hoying. Columbus Business First also reports that neither Crawford Hoying nor Bob Evans disclosed staffing levels or lease terms at the time of publication…