The commercial real estate firm Hunt Midwest expects to begin construction next year on the first of more than two dozen buildings on 3,300 acres of land that Hunt Midwest has assembled adjacent to Kansas City International Airport.
Hunt Midwest recently closed on the acquisition of 1,300 acres that are contiguous with roughly 2,000 acres it already owned. Hunt Midwest intends to invest close to $1.3 billion over the next decade to develop and build on this land 18 million sf of Class A logistics and manufacturing spaces. City approvals and building designs are pending.
In response to questions from BD+C, Hunt Midwest stated that it anticipates 27 industrial buildings on the site, ranging from 189,000 sf to 1.14 million sf. Buildout, said the developer, will be a phased approach based on market demand, with a mix of spec and build-to-suit inventory planned.
Olsson has completed the project’s initial civil design. The vertical construction team will be selected at a later date, said Hunt Midwest. 2023 is also when the airport’s new single terminal is scheduled for completion.
A TRANSPORTATION HUB
“We saw this acquisition as a good strategic move to augment the unprecedented industrial growth that Kansas City is experiencing,” said Ora Reynolds, Hunt Midwest’s President & CEO, in a prepared statement. “Disruptions in the global supply chains have driven the need to store more inventory closer to the end consumer and to re-shore manufacturing back to the United States. We hope to capitalize upon these demand drivers with some big ‘wins’ right here in Kansas City.”
KCI 29 Logistics, as this development has been dubbed, would be the largest logistics park in the state of Missouri. It will provide immediate access to the airport’s air cargo operations, which includes hubs for UPS, FedEx and USPS; and to Interstates 29 and 435 via the Mexico City Interchange. The park will offer users the ability to reach 90 percent of the U.S. population within two days via truck or air freight. Area infrastructure includes onsite transmission level power, a transmission waterline, and wastewater treatment plant.
“In addition to Kansas City’s desire to serve our region’s flying public, our investment in a new airport terminal was also meant to spur new economic activity in underdeveloped areas surrounding KCI,” said Quinton Lucas, Kansas City’s Mayor. “I’m glad to see these efforts materialize, and I appreciate Hunt Midwest’s partnership in these job-creating efforts.”
Related Stories
| Oct 27, 2014
Davis, Calif., latest city to join race to develop 'innovation hubs'
The city plans to develop two "innovation centers" with a total of seven million sf of commercial space geared for local research and technology companies.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 14, 2014
Slash energy consumption in data centers with liquid-based ‘immersive-cooling’ technology
A new technology promises to push the limits of data center energy efficiency by using liquid instead of air to cool the servers.
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
| Oct 9, 2014
Beyond the bench: Meet the modern laboratory facility
Like office workers escaping from the perceived confines of cubicles, today’s scientists have been freed from the trappings of the typical lab bench, writes Perkins+Will's Bill Harris.
| Oct 1, 2014
4 trends shaping the future of data centers
As a designer of mission critical facilities, I’ve learned that it’s really difficult to build data centers to keep pace with technology, yet that’s a reality we face along with our clients, writes Gensler's Jackson Metcalf.
| Sep 24, 2014
Architecture billings see continued strength, led by institutional sector
On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index.
| Sep 22, 2014
4 keys to effective post-occupancy evaluations
Perkins+Will's Janice Barnes covers the four steps that designers should take to create POEs that provide design direction and measure design effectiveness.
| Sep 22, 2014
Sound selections: 12 great choices for ceilings and acoustical walls
From metal mesh panels to concealed-suspension ceilings, here's our roundup of the latest acoustical ceiling and wall products.
