Big cooled warehouse

[hotwine]

There's an interesting article in the "Property Report" column of today's Wall Street Journal about warehouses being vacated as the economy contracts. One that is mentioned had been used by Webvan, which is now defunct, and includes some 160,000 square feet of "freezer/cooler/food preparation" spaces in the Chicago area. Think of the possiblities! That space could be built out as winerooms of various sizes, and rented to folks who don't have their own winecellars, in much the same way that banks rent out safe deposit boxes in their vaults: a person would choose a room to meet his needs, pay the rent, sign out a key, and stash his goods. Access 24/7 would need to be provided, but that should be doable. Hmmm. Wonder if there's any (smaller) space like that available in this area?

[txkajun]

Have you looked into the "late" Kelly Air Force base? Who knows what all they have there.

[hotwine]

I'm familiar with Kelly, having spent most of a career there. It has many excellent facilities that could be put to this type of use. But with the recent contraction of the economy, there's an abundance of commercial space on the market that could be converted to wine storage. I don't personally have the inclination to pursue the idea at present, but the concept should be doable in virtually any market.

[mrdutton]

Well you'd spend a small fortune trying to modifiy the freezer and refrigeration units so you could store the wine at 50 F. along with the relatively high humidity required.<P>Commercial freezers are set to operate at 0 F or below down to around -10 F. or lower with little or no humidity.<P>Commercial refrigerators are set to operate at 35 to 42 F. with minimal amounts of humidity.<P>If the systems use BPR's and EPR's to control evaporator pressure/back-pressure in the desired temperature range, then you might be able to find the correct combination to change the systems to operate at the desired 50 - 55 F for storing wine, if the compressors use a compatible refrigerant.<P>If they use spyder type manifolds as found in many home units and semi-commercial units then forget any conversion at all.<P>Then you will also have to consider that the commercial refrigeration units in the big warehouses use a type of refrigerant that is not agreeable to the desired temperature range - many use ammonia or CO2 instead of the chloro-flouro-carbides that are also used for refrigeration. In that case you have to change the evaporator controls and the compressors....... or would have to just plain start with new units.<P>Thought I'd submit a bit of a reality check here..........

[txkajun]

I'm sure you are right, Mrdutton, I was just trying to connect a little with hotwine, seeing as we are neighbors.<P>But thanks!<P>tk

[hotwine]

And howdy, TK. Don't know where you're doing your wine shopping in SA, but if you haven't discovered Joe Saglimbeni's Fine Wines and Wines Best Buy, you need to run over to W. Rhapsody. The shops are across the street from each other, and only a block or so off West Ave. Joe's is high-end, while WBB has rock-bottom prices, better even than Spec's in Houston. Both are great places to visit. And WBB gives a 5% discount for cash or check.

[zenda2]

With all the storage talk, I thought you folks might be interested in this site.<P>http://www.domainedionysus.com/<P>We've got miles of underground storage here in K.C., they mined limestone layers underground, left 'pillars' of stone that hold up the roof, constant 58 degrees. Wine, computers and Gov't. Cheese out the wahoo. Anything similar down around S.A. or over in Austin? Y'all have got the limestone, but has it been mined underground, or was it all open-pit quarried?

[hotwine]

Open pit, unfortunately, although there are numerous small caves in the northern part of the county. Sure wish I had one on my place.

[winoweenie]

Youd'a just filled it wif' some lame Lime-Wines. WW (giggle)

[hotwine]

Lime-wines? Moi?<BR>I'm in the right part of the county, and sitting on limestone, but haven't found a cave here yet. Although there are a couple of openings in the bedrock that could lead to larger cavities. Anybody got a ground-penetrating radar?