X-Caliber Leads $34M Financing for California Almond Processing Facility Expansion
By Andrew Coen August 30, 2023 9:00 am
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California Custom Processing (CCP) has sealed a $33.5 million debt package for the refinance and expansion of an almond processing facility and renewable energy system in Central California, Commercial Observer can first report.
X-Caliber Rural Capital (XRC), a subsidiary of X-Caliber Capital, provided a $29.5 million loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program for CCP’s 65,000-square-foot asset in Madera, Calif., that opened in 2017. CastleGreen Finance also supplied $4 million of Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing for the project through the California Statewide Communities Development Authority.
The USDA loan will refinance past debt and also fund construction of an adjacent 52,500-square-foot building on the property located at 3211 Aviation Drive.
Jordan Blanchard, XRC co-founder and executive manager, said the long-term financing will help support a “growing almond industry.”
“The combination of this USDA Food Supply Chain loan plus C-PACE financing is a winning formula that delivers a competitive financing package for our client while supporting the environment and the retention of permanent jobs in Madera and surrounding communities,” Blanchard said in a statement.
Mike Hammond, executive managing director at X-Caliber Capital, originated both the USDA and C-PACE loans.
The C-PACE loan will finance renewable energy improvements including a rooftop solar array and battery storage at the existing facility along with seismic resiliency improvement measures for the facility’s expansion. The sustainability enhancements are projected to yield more than $14.3 million of electricity cost savings over the lifetime of the system.
Sal Tarsia, managing partner at CastleGreen, said the C-PACE structure “supports a sustainable energy design and significantly reduces operational costs.”
Some of the almond processing services CCP provides include blanching, steam pasteurization, dry roasting, slicing, slivering and flour production. The expansion project is slated to be completed by 2025 and is expected to retain 48 full-time jobs.
Leighton Allen, chief financial officer at CCP, said the hybrid financing from XRC Capital and CastleGreen will deliver “significant financial benefits while supporting our environment and local jobs market.”
The CCP deal marks the second combined financing from XRC and CastleGreen for an almond cold storage facility in Madera. The duo also teamed up on a $52 million construction financing transaction in October 2022 for Origo Investments to build a new 254,000-square-foot cold storage facility.
Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com
