Vertical Farming
Any of you wonderful people know anything about the process of building vertical farming? Be it in urban centers or otherwise. I think this could be huge going forward, and I wanted to start a conversation here to see what resources are out there.
Love the the topic and the idea, but not too new anymore. There are a few large scale Silicon Valley type start ups raising huge money in the space. The only issue is the indoor vertical farming has a lot of R&D money up front so the leaders are spewing cash like crazy. The good news is the business model and spaces they occupy work extremely well in “food deserts” and will increase the availability of greens and lettuces to those markets. The big breakthroughs will come when they learn to hyper specialize these buildings and resources to produce produce (lol) that is more than just basil and lettuces, but all types of vegetables and flowers, etc. this is only the beginning of the future and real estate will eventually get on board with more access to produce (think roofs and unused indoor/outdoor spaces). Excited to get this thread going if people were to help keep it afloat..
I am reading The Vertical Farm by Despommier. The case he makes for moving farming from acres of flat land into buildings is a compelling one. Going through it all i could think of is the revenue this hypothetical building would throw off and how it would fit into the zoning laws. The envelope depending on the zone could be insane. Thanks for your two cents here to keep the thread going
Yes let’s grown corn in NYC where the price is per square foot is $1500 instead of in Iowa
Not my problem you can't afford locally sourced corn my dude
No one is saying NYC, but you could easily find cheaper space in NJ and then your transportation costs are suddenly a fraction of what they were when you were shipping produce from Iowa.
We worked with one of the startups from sf for a development fund idea, deal never went anywhere, but the number one things they cared about was electricity costs. All they pretty much cared about was locating where the cheapest electricity was.
other factors included labor supply, tax programs (opportunity zones, local tax breaks, etc) but really it all came down to the cheapest rates.
I can't begin to fathom the electric bill for something like this. Kind of makes the me question the environmental efficacy of it. Unless you build it right next to a hydroelectric dam. Or replace the farmland with solar panels
That's what my input would be. You're telling me the largest players aren't gearing towards energy-efficient buildings or requiring a solar investment? I mean the entire idea works on 24/7 produce growth, that almost requires solar and battery back up to keep things humming when the lights go out... Also, when you say they are searching for the cheapest electricity, do you mean regions where the costs are the lowest? Or are you talking about sustainable/energy-efficient buildings and there just aren't many in the industrial space? BTW, most of these are hydroponic setups as well, water efficiency is what is the most key thing here. Code in CA requires better energy efficiency, water is the next part to have all eyes on as we approach a fire season with a major current drought.
This article is from about a year after the lease was signed at a Westcore property in South LA, but is a great read on the topic: https://dot.la/investors-in-los-angeles-2652955744.html they raised insane money last year and their growth will be materializing soon where you'll notice their products in stores and what not..
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