A $6.5 million municipal loan to Levari Brothers Realty has wrapped up financing for another large cold storage warehouse at 1200 North Mill Road, extending a recent string of expansions spurred by growing food industry demand.

The City Council unanimously approved the loan Tuesday night. The money comes from a revolving loan fund, whose operating committee endorsed the application earlier in February.

Levari Brothers is a holding company that owns two existing cold storage facilities, both in that stretch of North Mill Road. Those facilities operate as First Choice Freezer and Cold Storage and as M & O Freezer and Cold Storage.

Those businesses told the city they are stretched to accommodate customers, despite fairly recently expansions. The proposed approximately 106,000-square-foot warehouse, at a total cost of about $19.37 million, helps address that shortage. A second phase of expansion also is planned at the site.

The Cumberland County Improvement Authority says that increased food processing in the county has created a shortage in cold storage rental space. The city loan analysis cites that finding.

“The food industry has skyrocketed,” CCIA Executive Director Gerard Velazquez III said on Wednesday. “And quite frankly, as function of COVID, has even gotten to the point where it’s become prevalent and relevant to the economy.