Port Hueneme : Contractor Chosen for Port Warehouse

The Oxnard Harbor District on Monday selected an Irvine-based construction company to build a $9.3-million fruit and meat refrigeration warehouse at the South Terminal of the Port of Hueneme.

The district board voted unanimously to award the contract to Gentosi Bros. Contractors. Construction of the 137,000-square-foot warehouse, which is expected to bring up to 100 jobs to local dockworkers, is scheduled to begin in February.

The facility, which will be used to store citrus fruit, bananas and meat, is expected to be finished in November, said Anthony Taormina, executive director of the Oxnard Harbor District.

Cool Carriers Pacific Inc., the Long-Beach based produce shipping company that will operate the refrigerated warehouse, will as part of the agreement move its international headquarters to the city of Port Hueneme.

Taormina said the warehouse will generate an additional $1 million in gross revenues annually for the harbor district. The district now grosses $5 million annually, he said.

Taormina said that in addition to providing jobs, the district and Cool Carriers will pay the city of Port Hueneme nearly $750,000 over the next five years to be used for the improvement of roadways leading to and from the South Terminal facility.