5300 Kansas Ave. in Kansas City, KS.
KANSAS CITY, KS—The rise of e-commerce kicked off a construction boom in this centrally-located metro area. But the need for distribution centers that can reach a huge swathe of the continent is also helping fill up older, class B facilities. Overstock.com, Inc., one of the world's largest online home goods and furniture retailers, has decided to open a distribution center at 5300 Kansas Ave. in Kansas City, KS, a 517,000-square-foot building constructed in 1970. LoopNet listed the property's price as $14.95 million.
The Utah-based e-commerce leader, founded in 1999, plans to start outbound deliveries from the new facility in October, and says the operation will create more than 100 jobs within the next two years. Overstock intends to expand the distribution center's operations to include returns processing in the future.
“Selecting Kansas City as the home of Overstock's newest fulfillment center allows us to offer over 99% of our US customers two-day shipping options, improving shopping experiences by getting orders into the customer's hands as soon as possible,” says Carroll Morale, Overstock.com vice president of supply chain.
“Overstock.com joins a growing community of e-commerce retailers finding significant benefits to a Kansas City location, including CVS, Jet.com and a number of automotive businesses,” says Tim Cowden, president and chief executive officer, Kansas City Area Development Council.
In 2017 alone, the region saw growth in distribution and fulfillment facilities from 100,000 to 1.2 million square feet, which included e-commerce companies like Amazon and Hy-Vee Aisles, major retailers like Dollar Tree, and companies like Spectrum Brands and Horizon Global.
Chris Gutierrez, president of KC SmartPort, tells GlobeSt.com that about four million square feet of new industrial space is either under construction or recently finished. Furthermore, market analysts say tenants that need a total of about four million square feet are currently looking for space. “Our pipeline of deals is very strong.”
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
