Coming Soon: Lane4's Liberty Logistic Center

by MWM Staff

LANE4 Property Group plans to break ground within a month on a major development in Liberty, Missouri.

The new development, named Liberty Logistics Center, will be located on a 68-acre tract of land at MO Highway 69 and Liberty Parkway, adjacent to the Ford Assembly Plant and visible from Interstate 35.

“We love this project for a variety of reasons,” said Hunter Harris, partner at LANE4. “Because of its immediate access to I-35 and 10-minute access to I-70, the site is ideal for distribution and logistics-focused users looking for supply chain advantages. Liberty is one of the fastest growing communities in the region, responsive to economic development and a prime location for a growing workforce. Overall, this project encompasses all the characteristics we look for when deciding where to invest.”

The development will feature three large buildings, built on a speculative basis, available for commercial manufacturing and distribution operations.

The largest and first to be constructed building will be 741,000 SF with 36-floor ceilings and up to 146 dock doors. The two smaller buildings will be 80,000 SF and 132,000 SF with 32-foot ceilings, accommodating smaller users. All the buildings will feature 50 by 50-foot column spacing with 60-foot speed bays, office storefronts and clerestory windows around the exterior.

Additionally, the development will include a retail portion, Liberty Parkway Plaza, containing eight pad sites fronting I-35 and the Logistics Park. These pads are ideal for restaurants and retailers to cater to the logistics center tenants and employees, as well as the surrounding population.

This development embodies LANE4’s evolution from a retail-focused brokerage firm to a geographically-focused, full-service firm developing multiple asset classes. The transition into multifamily, senior living and industrial projects began with the firm’s first mixed-use project, 39Rainbow in Kansas City, KS in 2012.

Since then, LANE4 has invested heavily in non-retail assets through both acquisition and development, and now maintains a well-diversified portfolio.

“We’ve developed a solid set of real estate fundamentals that guide our endeavors. Our strength is in understanding the commercial real estate landscape of Kansas City and the Midwest region, and recognizing the potential for successful projects, regardless of asset class,” Harris said.

Construction is expected to begin within a month and the first of three buildings will be complete in late 2020.

LANE4 Property Group serves as the developer for the entire project as well as leasing/sales agent of the retail component. Joe Orscheln with CBRE is providing industrial leasing services. Architecture and engineering services are provided by Davidson Architecture and Engineering.

Kessinger Hunter brings Silicon Valley's ITRenew to I-35 Logistics Park

Kessinger Hunter & Company has finalized a long-term lease with ITRenew, an information technology and service provider from Silicon Valley.

The 315,000+ SF space in Building C was the last vacancy of the 1.3 million SF presently constructed at Olathe's I-35 Logistics Park.

“We could not be more excited to make I-35 Logistics Park our largest North American facility. As our processing and production capabilities continue to scale at a rapid rate, I-35 Logistics Park and Kansas City more broadly offers us the skills and resources we need to grow,” said Aidin Aghamiri, CEO of ITRenew.

Located only 2.5 miles from the city’s new 159th & Lone Elm interchange at I-35, and 8.5 miles from the 1,200-acre BNSF Intermodal Center, I-35 Logistics Park is primed to deliver up to its capacity of 4.7 million SF.

“Companies like ITRenew in the information technology sector are just another example of the continuing strong demand for state-of-the-art, large facilities in the Midwest,” said Dan Jensen, Kessinger Hunter landlord rep.

Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, ITRenew is the world’s leading provider of hyper-scale data center services. The firm is orchestrating a circular global IT hardware ecosystem by providing technology-enabled hardware decommissioning services to the largest technology businesses in the world and using hyper-scale technology to create high-performance compute and storage solutions for all other IT-hardware buyers.

Eliminating all data security risk and ensuring complete regulatory compliance for clients lies at the foundation of the firm’s work.

“We are now looking to move forward on developing our next building at I-35 Logistics Park and our belief is that the availability of Class A big-box space will make Kansas City an even more enticing destination for expanding companies,” Jensen added.

The landlord was represented by Dan Jensen, SIOR and Kurt Jensen, SIOR member associate, both of Kessinger Hunter. ITRenew was represented by Brad Struck, SIOR and Sharon Morrison, SIOR of esrp Tenant Advisory Services of Dallas; and represented locally by Matthew Severns, SIOR of Kessinger Hunter.

Olathe pioneer spec building sells to investors

The region's first large speculative industrial building at 167th Street and Lone Elm in Olathe has sold to a Dallas investment group. Developed by Kessinger/Hunter, the 600,000+ square foot warehouse and distribution facility at 22101 W. 167th St. in I-35 Logistics Park is fully occupied by FedEx and Bushnell Corp.

Developer Dan Jensen of Kessinger/Hunter saw the current industrial real estate wave coming over a decade ago and worked with Sun Life Assurance to get the building approved, financed and out of the ground.

“This was the first large spec building in our market. It was very rewarding to take this project from an idea back in 2007, through design, permitting, construction, leasing, management and finally sale ten years later," said Jensen, who brokered the building's recent sale to Sealy & Co.

When Jensen first proposed the Lone Elm spec, commercial real estate investment was in a deep freeze. Nonetheless, Jensen persisted and successfully made his case about the potential for growth in Kansas City due to its interstate highway access and central U.S. location. Today, the metro is one of the top 10 industrial markets in the country.

"It is incredible the way the Kansas City metro has exploded with quality big box distribution facilities over the past 10 years. I do not see this slowing down anytime in the near future," Jensen said.

Jensen, meanwhile, continues to ride the wave he helped create. Kessinger/Hunter just announced construction plans for its third warehouse facility in I-35 Logistics Park, a "semi-spec" project that is partially pre-leased. For those keeping track, that brings Jensen's team to just under 2 million square feet of industrial space developed in South Johnson County.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) negotiated the sale on behalf of the buyer. Kessinger/Hunter will continue to manage the Lone Elm building.