Ghost kitchens, where food is made but can’t be seen, will replace Lincoln Hardware
CloudKitchens, a commercial shared kitchen concept for delivery or pickup-only food businesses, has taken over the longtime home of Lincoln Hardware in Tacoma, according to city construction permits.
The owner: former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s real estate acquisition company City Storage Systems, which buys “distressed” properties and converts them into spaces equipped for online retail, specifically food delivery.
The 6,600-square-foot space will be renovated to hold approximately 20 preparation kitchens for “catering back-of-house operations,” according to permit applications, which also describe a 630-square-foot addition off the back of the building, to be a walk-in cooler.
It will not be open to the public.
Though slated to be outfitted with 20 “kitchens,” the space could house dozens of virtual brands, as described in a short documentary about the trend from HNGRY, an online outlet that investigates how technology influences the food industry. From the first such warehouse in Los Angeles, says host Matt Newberg, 90 “singular concepts and 25 superstores” operate out of fewer than 30 kitchen setups.
Known also as ghost — or virtual, dark, or before tech got in the game, commissary — this shared kitchen idea essentially leases food-prep space to restaurateurs looking for a low-overhead way to sell through online platforms like DoorDash, Grubhub and UberEats. The latter launched shortly before Kalanick was ousted in 2017 from the company he founded.
Kalanick invested $150 million in the Los Angeles-based City Storage Systems in 2019 through his fund called 10100, taking a controlling interest and becoming CEO. Sky Dayton, who founded internet service provider EarthLink and Boingo Wireless, is also a partner, according to Crunchbase.
Quietly over the last two years, CloudKitchens has scooped up more than 40 properties in 20-some cities across the United States, spending more than $130 million in the process, The Wall Street Journal reported last October. Other targeted cities include Portland, Oregon; Las Vegas; Nashville; and Columbus, Ohio.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Tacoma entity incorporated last July in Washington state as 3726 S G Street TAC LLC, after the address of the former family hardware store in the Lincoln District. In November, the Sallees sold the property, built in 1947, for $435,000 according to Pierce County property records.
Construction will entail a top-to-bottom rehab, records obtained by The News Tribune show, including new ceilings, walls, floors, electrical and plumbing work, along with structural upgrades applicable to commercial food service. Bainbridge-based 3rkarchitects is handling the construction.
The project was estimated in late January to cost $2.85 million, but a Feb. 23 filing values it at $910,000.
Ghost kitchens, a.k.a. commissary kitchens, in Tacoma
Ghost kitchens impacted the food industry before the pandemic, through similar outfits like Kitchen United and Fulton Kitchens in the United States and Deliveroo (now backed by Amazon) in Europe. They have surreptitiously grown under the auspices of the aforementioned third-party delivery systems. A sushi restaurant, for example, might sell a poke menu exclusively on UberEats. During the COVID-19 crisis, big chains joined the wave, from Chuck E. Cheese to Appelebee’s.
They have also benefited savvy restaurateurs in cities from coast to coast seeking alternate ways to reach customers during a treacherous time. In Tacoma, The Gourmet Niche has spurred pickup-only brands slinging Detroit-style pizza and Filipino food.
On its website, CloudKitchens says its commercial kitchens and storage space are “designed to help you run your delivery business with maximum efficiency and minimal cost.” Tenants have access to an “on-site fulfillment team” and proprietary technology that purportedly simplifies the multi-tablet fiasco many delivery-reliant restaurants now lament. By minimizing the costs of maintenance, the company says, food businesses can “focus on the food.”
In San Francisco, Business Insider last fall reported seeing “a fairly bustling stream of delivery workers” entering and exiting the nondescript CloudKitchens building, retrieving orders from local delivery-only brands as well as national chains including SweetGreen.
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 10:20 AM.