Earth-moving moment in Lee's Summit as industrial spec moves ahead

For Lee's Summit development leaders, seeing industrial spec inventory come out of the ground has often felt akin to moving mountains. That's why seeing dirt finally move at The Grove at Lee's Summit mixed-use site near M-291 and Bailey Road on the south side of the city is so gratifying.

"The Grove will allow Lee's Summit to finally 'get in the game' and compete for industrial relocation and expansion projects," said Rick McDowell, Lee's Summit Economic Development Council president. "Lee's Summit has not even been able to submit proposals for dozens of projects through the years simply because the city lacked viable industrial buildings."

The project's timing is just right, according to Mark Long, executive managing director of Newmark Grubb Zimmer: "The Grove is coming to the market at the same time as some key infrastructure improvements including the Bailey Road overpass and more importantly the new interchange at Highway 50 and M-291. There is a lack of available Class A product in the area, and this project will fill that gap in supply."

On Friday, local dignitaries, city staff and project partners took their shovels to the dirt, signaling the beginning of land clearance for infrastructure to support construction of The Grove's first building, a 200,000 square spec industrial facility. 

"We are excited about beginning this new chapter of development in the city of Lee's Summit. The Grove will be the premiere mixed use destination for people to work, shop and play for years to come. We are grateful to the mayor, city council, city staff and the LSEDC for supporting our vision for the future," said Steve Singh, CEO and managing partner of The Grove.

The mixed-use development will include an additional 200,000 square feet of light industrial space, as well as the donation of property to the City of Lee’s Summit for a future fire station. With an upscale design loosely based upon successful, world-class properties like The Grove at LA and Santana Row in San Jose, California, The Grove promises to transform Lee’s Summit's southern gateway.

Project partners include A.L. Huber, general contractor; BHC Rhodes, civil engineering services; Klover Architects, architectural design, Newmark Grubb Zimmer, real estate broker, and White Goss, legal services.

For more information about The Grove, contact Daren Fristoe, project manager. 

Wanted in Edgerton: Restaurant and residential development

With almost 11 million square feet of industrial space under construction and 3,400 new jobs created in three years, the City of Edgerton is scrambling to attract retail, restaurant and residential development activity.

“Our projects went extremely fast. The amount of traffic and number of employees we are seeing here and the desire to have amenities and housing options nearby just continues to increase,” said Edgerton Mayor Don Roberts.

NorthPoint Development’s Logistics Park Kansas City in Edgerton is among the most successful industrial park buildouts in the nation in recent memory, both in terms of total square footage and speed to market. But attracting and building ancillary development to support the burgeoning workforce has a longer runway, and that’s one reason the city launched its own economic development partnership, ElevateEdgerton!, earlier this year.

“There is a lot of development happening in the KC area right now, and we are trying to compete with other more established areas and trying to get people to come to Edgerton,” said Edgerton City Administrator Beth Linn. “Once people are at (LPKC), it sells itself, but getting them here can be a challenge because we are kind of an unknown in the market.”

The basic message ElevateEdgerton! wants to send is that the market is ripe and ready for additional investment beyond industrial warehouse and distribution projects. The influx of thousands of new Amazon and UPS workers requiring places to eat and spend money before, during and after their workdays has changed the conversation.

“We have the numbers, and we have to bring these other sectors,” Roberts said. “Two years ago, things were different, but a fast service restaurant will make it in Edgerton today.”

Russell Pearson with NAI Heartland is on the team marketing the Midwest Gateway speculative industrial project in Edgerton and agrees that the time is right for more development: "The industrial growth in Edgerton has been dramatic in the past few years, and this creates a real opportunity for developers to deliver commercial and residential product to support the employee base in that area.”

In addition to restaurant and residential housing, the city is working to attract a large, full-service truck stop to accommodate commercial vehicles and possibly provide additional quick service dining. Roberts believes that a dramatic rise in traffic counts over the past three years will help make the case.

“Homestead Lane wasn't even open 3 ½ years ago. To go from 0 to 10,000 vehicles a day is unheard of,” Roberts said.

Interested developers should contact Steve Hale at ElevateEdgerton! to identify top sites.

SubTropolis emerges as leading logistics location for animal health industry

Hunt Midwest SubTropolis is carving out a niche in the animal health logistics space, growing its veterinary industry footprint to 250,000 square feet. Over the past 12 months, three animal health companies - French veterinary pharmaceutical company Virbac, Ceva Animal Health, and IodiTech - have announced new or expanded warehouse and distribution operations in SubTropolis, which offers commissioned facilities in a naturally cool underground environment.

“SubTropolis is the total package for animal health companies and their unique requirements for product safety and climate control, providing significant operational cost efficiencies,” said Hunt Midwest President and CEO Ora Reynolds.

Virbac is currently consolidating its North American product warehousing and distribution operations in the underground business complex. According to Virbac President and CEO Paul R. Hays, the SubTropolis location will help the 8th largest veterinary pharmaceutical company better align itself within the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, which churns out more than half of the sales generated by the global animal health industry.

“By bringing processes and people together at this Kansas City facility, we are boosting collaboration and efficiency within our manufacturing operations," Hays said. 

In addition, Ceva Animal Health and IodiTech Inc. both announced expansions in the Energy Star rated facility over the past year. Hunt Midwest Vice President Mike Bell attributes SubTropolis' success in the animal health space to a "compelling value proposition" for companies that must adhere to industry product standards by maintaining strict temperature and humidity levels.

“The underground’s protective layer of limestone essentially offers ‘natural’ cooling that saves companies between 70 and 80 percent on utilities and equipment compared to a building on the surface,” Bell said. “There’s an ‘Aha Moment’ when companies fully realize how a SubTropolis location can substantially improve their bottom line.”

Ceva Animal Health is a case in point. CEO Craig Wallace says that consistent conditions and the ability to easily expand underground were two key reasons Ceva chose SubTropolis for a new North American warehouse and distribution center in 2015. Within a year, Ceva had outgrown its space and was able to quickly scale up to meet ongoing demand. 

“The underground location is a great solution for Ceva’s current and future warehousing needs,” Wallace said. “As we add products and expand into new categories, we require scalable space and partners like Hunt Midwest who can accommodate our growth and evolve with us.”

Kansas City-based IodiTech Inc. opened a distribution operation in SubTropolis in 2016. The company manufactures and ships a variety of iodine derivatives – including animal feed minerals – throughout North America and the world.

“The ability to ship to up to 85 percent of the U.S. within two days was of critical importance,” IodiTech President Curtis Thomas said. “Our location in SubTropolis is the perfect complement to our nearby manufacturing facility.”

The growing collection of animal health assets within SubTropolis is creating an “industry cluster within a cluster” for Kansas City’s Animal Health Corridor, which will hold its annual Animal Health Investor Forum and Animal Health Homecoming Dinner August 28-29.

“Hunt Midwest SubTropolis is a valued strategic partner as we work on behalf of the Kansas City Area Development Council to attract global animal health companies to the Greater Kansas City region,” said Kimberly Young, president of the KC Animal Health Corridor.