Colliers International recently announced it would build a 167,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Liberty, Missouri. The deal is notable because it continues a hot streak for the Kansas City region, which has seen a boom in the past year in commercial real estate, both in terms of companies building facilities and firms like Colliers constructing buildings even without tenants.
When groundbreaking officially occurs in July this year, Colliers will join a growing list of companies building or opening facilities in the region, including Chewy, Urban Outfitters and Amazon, which is building two facilities in the region. When completed, Amazon will have 10 facilities in the region covering more than 4 million square feet. Chewy opened its 796,000-square-foot facility designed for e-commerce fulfillment last year.
Other projects of note include NorthPort Development, which is building a 1 million-square-foot facility; Hunt Midwest, which is building a 700,000-square-foot facility; and Scannel Properties, which has separate projects planned covering more than 5.5 million square feet in total.
In 2020, more than 8 million square feet of new space was delivered and 16 million square feet, all new space, was under active construction. This year, though, there has been a shift with more food and beverage companies, including producers, looking for space in the region. There appears to be no slowdown in activity for the region, with builders already planning new space for 2022.
One of the attractions is the region’s central location – 85% of the country can be reached within a two-day drive or less – but also access to all four modes of transportation. A new air terminal is opening ahead of schedule in Kansas City and Amazon just added new air cargo service to the city. Companies also have easy access to rail services and even barge movements along the Missouri River.
The region is also investing in its infrastructure. Kansas passed a 10-year transportation bill just prior to the start of the pandemic and the Missouri Legislature passed a fuel tax increase to pay for transportation. That bill is awaiting the governor’s signature. For more information, contact MAC today!