Gartner Refrigeration building sells for $2.2 million
By: Ann Bretts
March 20, 2020
Family-owned Gartner Refrigeration celebrated its 75th anniversary this year with the retirement of its president and the end of a two-year transition in which it sold its operations and its Plymouth plant to entities related to Stewart Capital Partners in Minneapolis.
Plymouth Facility Group LLC closed March 1 on the $2.2 million acquisition of Gartner’s 26,632-square-foot plant, built in 1986 on 3.21 acres at 13205 N. 16th Ave. The one-story building has a single drive-in door and 15 feet of clear height. The price works out to $82.61 per square foot.
A Stewart Capital case study explains that second-generation Gartner president and owner John Hendrickson approached the equity firm in 2018 as part of planning his retirement. He had worked at the company for 50 years and served as president 40 of them.
While the building is modest, the Stewart Capital website describes Gartner as a national provider of design, installation, and service of commercial refrigeration and freezer systems for the food, dairy, and beverage industries, as well as ice arenas, test chambers, and air dryers.
Hendrickson joined with Stew Stender of Stewart Capital Partners, Tom Gunkel of Franklin Cos. and one other partner and formed Gartner Refrigeration Inc. to acquire Gartner Refrigeration & Manufacturing Inc.
Hendrickson had met the investors in 2009, when two of them hired him to run a cold storage facility. The relationships grew and Stewart Capital bought the business operations in 2018. Hendrickson helped with the transition and now serves as chairman of the board.
In an interesting bit of company history, founders Herb and George Gartner did heating and air conditioning systems for hotels. Their work led them to create compact ice skating rinks for hotel lobbies and ballrooms, a popular feature after World War II.