Ark Valley News - More interest expressed in Sunflower Commerce Park

More interest expressed in Sunflower Commerce Park
By Matt Heilman
Last Updated: August 22, 2013

Slowly, but surely, the City of Bel Aire is seeing results from its aggressive marketing efforts in the 800-acre Sunflower Commerce Park. For now, Century Manufacturing is the only tenant operating on the property that stretches from Webb Road to Greenwich along 53rd North, but more construction is on the horizon.

Following an Aug. 13 Bel Aire City Council special meeting, City Manager Ty Lasher announced that negotiations have started with a company interested in building on about 12 acres of the property along the Union Pacific rail line at the intersection of 53rd North and Greenwich.

Lasher said he couldn't disclose the identity of the company other than to confirm that it supplies materials to concrete companies. He described the business as "a national company" with facilities in Kansas and across the United States.

Lasher said the rail access is what's driving the company to Bel Aire and the company hopes to begin operating in the Sunflower Commerce Park within a year.

For that to happen, he said the city would work with the company and Union Pacific to get railroad siding installed along the main line of track to use for shipping.

The master plan for the Sunflower Commerce Park also calls for the addition of a rail spur, a line that dead ends off the main track where large manufactured items can be loaded directly onto train cars.

The rail access is pivotal to the Sunflower Commerce Park's growth, Lasher has said.

Earlier this summer, contract negotiations began with Wichita's Shuttle Aerospace to build on about 12 acres south of 53rd North and Webb Road.

A "worldwide distribution business," that is rumored to be FedEx, is planning to operate out of a building on about a 21-acre site in the Sunflower Commerce Park. In June, Lasher said the company planned to lease the building from a Kansas City, Mo.-based developer.

The "worldwide distribution business" is now working with a different developer, but still has its eye on Bel Aire, Lasher said.

The city expects to hear from more companies interested in the Sunflower Commerce Park in the next several months. More commitments are expected after construction picks up to build off what started with Century Manufacturing.

The Sunflower Commerce Park now has signage at three paved entryways to the 800-acre property, spelling out the development's name and the city it calls home.

Along with rail access, the master plan for the Sunflower Commerce Park calls for the first 155 acres to be shovel-ready, meaning infrastructure is put in place ahead of development plans so that construction can begin immediately when a business commits to building on the property.