Spartan Fleet Vehicles and Services is launching a new Ford cargo van and fleet upfitting facility in Hunt Midwest’s Automotive Alley, leasing 50,000 square feet in HMBC Logistics I, a 200,000 square foot Class A warehouse and distribution facility located in Hunt Midwest Business Center.
John Forbes, president of Spartan Fleet Vehicles and Services, said the company chose Hunt Midwest Business Center in large part because of its proximity just south of Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant. “Our new fulfillment center is at the center of our new product launch that arms trades people, delivery service personnel and mobile retailers with custom interiors they need to better service their customers,” Forbes said.
Spartan is the anchor tenant for the first of several multi-tenant industrial buildings planned for Hunt Midwest Business Center, a 2,500-acre, master-planned commercial development adjacent to SubTropolis, the world’s largest underground business park.
“Users in the 40,000 to 80,000 square foot range are the backbone of the current industrial market, and we are seeing that play out with strong interest and leasing activity,” said Hunt Midwest President and CEO Ora Reynolds.
The upfitter is the latest addition to Automotive Alley, Hunt Midwest’s significant cluster of automotive industry-related companies located both above and below ground. Automotive Alley includes Ford’s North American Vehicle Logistics Outbound Shipping Facility (NAVLOS), and a dozen automotive upfitters and suppliers including Adrian Steel, American Tire Distributors, Ground Effects, Knapheide, Leggett & Platt, and Reading Truck Body.
HMBC Logistics I includes state-of-the-art features including 32’ clear height, footprints divisible to 40,000 square feet, build-to-suit office, ESFR sprinkler system, expansive truck court depths, dedicated trailer parking positions, along with enhanced fiber and technological infrastructure.
Hunt Midwest Business Center’s Enhanced Enterprise Zone (EEZ) offers up to 100 percent tax abatement for qualifying projects based on investment and job creation numbers.
“Hunt Midwest is delivering on what we term the ‘Three Ls’ of industrial real estate—Location, Logistics and Labor,” said Mike Bell, Hunt Midwest vice president of commercial development. “We are seeing a ‘cluster effect’ of automotive and e-commerce companies as HMBC has immediate access to I-435, I-35, I-70 and MO-210, enabling shipment to 85 percent of the U.S. within two days. In addition, employees can take advantage of close proximity to public transportation.”
HMBC Logistics I is part of a recent 126-acre expansion of Hunt Midwest Business Center which will ultimately include an additional 8 million square feet of master-planned, Class A warehouse and distribution space. The building is being developed by Hunt-HSA Industrial, LLC, a joint venture between Hunt Midwest and HSA Commercial Real Estate. Hunt-HSA has selected CBRE to lease HMBC Logistics I and its remaining 150,000 square feet of space to prospective tenants.