Com Facs has purchased the old Kansas City Cold Storage building at 500 E. 3rd St. with the intention of converting the building to a telecommunications/data entry center. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

The eight-story building has 465,000 sf and floors that will hold 300 pounds per sf. There are also 12 existing major fiber ducts located near the property. The gothic-style building was constructed in the early 1920's by the US Corps of Engineers as a stop where refrigerated rail cars could reload with ice as they transported fresh produce across the country.

"This building is a perfect fit for telecom users," says Sean O'Byrne, leasing agent with Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. "There are minimal windows, good access to power and fiber lines, there is cork insulation in the walls and we can also run chilled water lines from Trigen Energy, which is right next door if a tenant wants to go that route."And Kansas City is well-positioned for telecom users," O'Byrne adds. "We are not seeing the brownouts that other parts of the country are seeing. I don't know if Kansas City will ever be a hub for fiber carriers, but the market saw 42% growth last year and time will tell. I do know that this building is a good fit and we had success leasing Oak Tower Downtown as a telecom center."

Com Facs managing director J. Michael Maloney, based in New York, said, "When (managing director L. Robert Boyd) began thinking of telecommunications development, we looked at a number of markets across the country. Because of its central location and the short supply of this type of property, we fixed on Kansas City as the perfect locale and the Ice House as the perfect building." Blast Inc., which operates cold storage and an ice making business in the building, will continue to operate there until the conversion begins.

Com Facs has retained Rafael Architects, Mortenson Contractors and Henderson Engineers to develop a master plan and the drawings for the building. O'Byrne and Mike Posten, with Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, will market the space.

Instant Insights /

Communications Facilities to Turn Cold Storage Building Into Telecom Facility

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