Liberty seems to be in the midst of a significant industrial development trend.
While the southern portion of the city has seen dramatic growth in logistic center construction along the South Liberty Parkway, Liberty Heartland Logistics Center on the city’s north side is seeing growth as well.
Opus Development Company, LLC, recently proposed three buildings, totaling 1.66 million square feet of warehouse space on 152 acres southeast of Highway 33 (Lightburne St.) and Shepherd Road. The development will include three buildings, with Hallmark Cards already announced as a tenant for one as part of an expansion for its existing distribution center, located to the south on Lightburne St.
Hallmark’s development is a story in itself. The current Liberty center opened in 1972 as one of the largest buildings in the world under one roof. It remains a keystone of the company’s distribution system and the proposed expansion would lead to Hallmark employing over 1,300 people at the location.
While Hallmark’s new building would encompass over 800,000 square feet, Opus plans two other centers of 572,000 and 240,000 square feet as speculative space. An additional 66 acres is also available to the west.
Additional information is available in this subscriber only article on the Kansas City Business Journal website.
