NorthPoint Development, a Kansas City, Mo.-based developer best known for building a massive logistics complex in the nearby Kansas suburb of Edgerton, said today it has combined the operations of two local freight forwarders that focus on handling U.S. ocean exports of agricultural and refrigerated products.
The new company, NorthPoint Forwarding, will integrate the operations of Jo-Sak Shipping Inc. and Olympic International Freight Forwarders Inc. The companies will focus on the movement of frozen meats and agricultural commodities such as peas, lentils, and beans, the developer said in a statement. Diogo Lobo will serve as the forwarder's CEO, while Jo-Sak Founder Pauline Yaghiayan will be the company's director of operations.
The move extends NorthPoint Development's reach beyond its core businesses of industrial, multi-family, senior-living and storage properties. In business since 2012, it has 21 million square feet of industrial space under management. As with other industrial property developers, it has facilities clustered in the Chicago-Indianapolis areas, and in the New York, New Jersey, and central Pennsylvania corridor. Perhaps its most visible property is Logistics Park Kansas City, a 17-million-square-foot tract on 1,700 acres in Edgerton, about 25 miles southwest of Kansas City. About 7 million square feet have been developed and built there, according to NorthPoint's website. Fort Worth, Texas-based rail giant BNSF Railway Co. opened an intermodal complex there in 2013.
A NorthPoint spokesperson said in an e-mail that the parent will be an investor and passive owner in the forwarding operation. NorthPoint was founded by Nathaniel Hagedorn, who is still CEO and majority shareholder. In the e-mailed statement, Northpoint said Hagedorn wants to "create the best technology-driven concept for international trade and logistics in the nation."
