London's agri-food sector employs over 7,000 people across more than 90 companies, with specialties from large-scale meat processing and frozen foods to beverages and ready-made meals. The surrounding farm belt feeds it, and Highway 401 and 402 move it. Terrahills delivers food-grade, cold chain and general industrial buildings across London and Southwestern Ontario.
Meat processing and frozen foods are the demanding end of the cold chain. Blast freezing, holding freezers at -25°C and below, washdown-rated process rooms, and the refrigeration plant to run all of it. Specialized freezer facilities can exceed $450–$550 per square foot; the building is a process system with a roof on it, and it has to be designed that way from the first meeting.
Southwestern Ontario's clay plain gives generally consistent bearing for spread footings and grade beams, but it drains slowly and carries a high water table across much of the region, which shapes stormwater design, sub-slab drainage under freezers, and the dewatering that services excavation may need. Frost depth is designed around 1.2 m.
What it costs here
published 2026 Ontario construction cost benchmarks, GTA hard costs: warehouse $75–$180/sq ft, distribution facility $170–$480/sq ft. Cold storage in Ontario runs roughly $240–$420/sq ft depending on refrigeration plant and freezer share. Hard costs only. Land, servicing, development charges and soft costs sit outside these bands.
Proof of delivery
Planning services for a 20-storey apartment building, London ON, current engagement. EU-GMP certified pharmaceutical facility, Ramara, controlled-environment industrial delivery.