Bowery Announces New State-of-the-Art Indoor Farm in Arlington to Meet Growing Consumer Demand for Protected Produce

By Office of Communications

Posted on February 15, 2022, February 15, 2022

Editor's Note: As of December 2023, the City and Bowery Farms have mutually terminated their Chapter 380 agreement due to Bowery Farms experiencing unforeseen delays in completing the project. Bowery Farms continues to work on the Arlington farm and intends to complete the project in the near future.

Bowery Farming, the largest vertical farming company in the U.S., serving major e-commerce platforms and more than 800 grocery stores, is building its newest smart indoor farm in Arlington.

Joining its network of vertical farms in Kearny, New Jersey; Nottingham, Maryland; and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Bowery plans to power its new Arlington farm with 100% renewable energy.

Driven by explosive demand in Texas for safer, traceable, Protected Produce, and propelled by the BoweryOS—which integrates software, hardware, sensors, computer vision systems, machine learning models, and robotics to orchestrate and automate the entirety of operations—Bowery’s Arlington commercial farm will serve a population of 16 million people within a 200-mile radius. The farm is expected to open the first quarter of 2023 inside a new industrial space on South Cooper Street, north of West Harris Road, in south Arlington.

“The addition of Bowery’s Arlington farm to our network is a critical next chapter in our growth,” said Irving Fain, Founder and CEO of Bowery Farming. “It will expand our reach and ability to be a reliable and sustainable source of local produce for more communities. We’re leading the next generation of agriculture, and this new location further accelerates our momentum.”

By opening a smart indoor farm in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area, a rapidly growing technology and manufacturing hub, Bowery will create more than 100 year-round green jobs.

Bowery’s smart indoor farms grow local, pesticide-free Protected Produce 365 days a year, regardless of weather conditions.

This farm will feature a number of industry-leading developments that build on Bowery technology, further automating the growing process from seed to store, and enhancing the efficiency of Bowery’s network:

• Renewable Energy: Demonstrating Bowery’s commitment to sustainability initiatives, the company plans to use power from 100% renewable sources.
• Water Conservation: A state-of-the-art, comprehensive water transpiration system will recapture water used throughout the growing process, with the goal of reclaiming and repurposing nearly all of the farm’s water.
• More Efficient LED Lighting: The Arlington farm amplifies Bowery’s holistic approach to sustainability and features industry-leading environmental improvements, like energy-reducing LED lighting.
• Smartest Farm Yet: Powered by the BoweryOS, this farm will leverage billions of data points collected from Bowery’s network of farms to grow a reliable supply of consistently delicious produce year-round and will lay the groundwork for the next chapter in smart, scalable indoor farming.

In 2021, Bowery doubled revenue and opened Farm X, a state-of-the-art innovation hub for plant science in Kearny, New Jersey. Bowery’s produce is harvested year-round at peak freshness and is delivered to stores within a few days of harvest—a stark contrast to the 90% of leafy greens grown in the U.S., which are transported over 3,000 miles across the country. Within this new farm, Bowery’s Protected Produce will reach a new region of the U.S., advancing the company’s goal of expanding access to local, traceable, pesticide-free food to people in every major city of the U.S. and around the world.

As an economic development incentive, the City Council voted Feb. 8 to reimburse 35 percent of the City's portion of ad valorem business personal property tax revenue generated by the company for a seven-year period. The City will also waive the building permit fees for the cost of installation of equipment, machinery, and furnishings within the South Cooper Street building. These incentives are designed to help Bowery Farms offset costs associated with retrofitting the industrial building and making necessary infrastructure-related improvements.

Strategic economic development allows Arlington to build its commercial tax base while keeping the tax rate low so the city can continue to provide the high-quality services - such as police, fire, parks, and libraries - that our residents expect.

In addition to the Arlington location, Bowery announced in January that it is also building a new farm in Locust Grove, Georgia, that will serve the Atlanta metropolitan area.