Ace Hardware opens 1.5 million-square-foot retail support center at Hunt Midwest’s KCI 29 Logistics Park industrial megasite

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ace Hardware opened its new 1.5 million square foot retail support center last week at Hunt Midwest's KCI 29 Logistics Park, the first completed project at the Kansas City-based real estate development company's 3,300-acre industrial megasite.

The massive new retail support center will play a crucial role in supporting Ace's growing network of more than 5,000 locally owned retail locations, capitalizing on KCI 29 Logistics Park's strategic location in almost the exact center of the continental U.S. on Interstate 29 adjacent to Kansas City International Airport.

Measuring a half mile from end to end, the new facility is the largest distribution center in Kansas City by building footprint and is almost twice the size of Ace's average retail support center. Combined with state-of-the-art automation and immediate access to interstate and air freight networks, the new retail support center will dramatically increase distribution capacity and ensure faster, more reliable product delivery to thousands of Ace Hardware locations,

"This new retail support center for Ace Hardware represents a bold investment in the future of our business and our retailers," said Rick DiMaio, Executive Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Ace Hardware. "KCI 29 Logistics Park offers the ideal location to strengthen our supply chain, improve service to our stores, and support continued growth across the country. With its scale, automation, and connectivity, this facility will help ensure that Ace remains the most convenient and reliable destination for our customers for years to come."

Hunt Midwest turned over the 1.5 million-square-foot, build-to-suit facility for early access in late November 2024 — just 12 months after construction started, thanks to an accelerated plan for concrete panel tilt-up with the Clayco general contracting team and an innovative roof installation process with BZI Steel.

Since then, Ace has invested in and installed cutting-edge automation and advanced warehouse technology systems to streamline operations, minimize environmental impact, and support the company's long-term sustainability goals.

The facility is now fully operational and will create more than 350 jobs in Platte County. This spring, the new facility earned a 2025 Kansas City Business Journal Capstone Award, the sole winner in the industrial category.

"When a world-renowned company like Ace Hardware makes such a substantial investment at KCI 29 Logistics Park, it validates the labor, location, and logistics advantages we envisioned when our team assembled Missouri's largest industrial megasite," said Mike Bell, Senior Vice President at Hunt Midwest. "The project also represents an immediate return on the investment Kansas City and the State of Missouri have made in public infrastructure at KCI 29 Logistics Park, a testament to the importance of a megasite to attract the largest economic development endeavors by the world's biggest and best companies."

Ace Hardware is the first company to locate its new facility at KCI 29 Logistics Park, which is the largest shovel-ready industrial park in Missouri with 3,300 contiguous acres under single ownership.

KCI 29 Logistics Park can support up to 17.8 million additional square feet of build-to-suit industrial development and is fully entitled under master planned development zoning for the fastest speed-to-market available. The site provides large regional, national, and international users with direct access to the new KCI passenger terminal, the KCI Air Cargo Hub, and Interstates 29 and 435, offering companies the ability ot reach 90% of the continental U.S. in two days.

KCI 29 Logistics Park also includes on-site transmission-level power, transmission water, and a wastewater treatment plant to offer robust utility capacity for large-scale manufacturing, distribution, and technology users. Additional road, sewer, and infrastructure work is underway to activate the remaining acreage across the megasite. For more information about KCI 29 Logistics Park, please click HERE.

 

About Hunt Midwest

Hunt Midwest is a Kansas City-based, privately held real estate development company with six decades in industrial, self-storage, residential, multifamily, and senior living communities, with more than $3 billion of developed projects in multiple geographic markets. Hunt Midwest leverages its reputation, resources, and relationships to create successful real estate solutions.

Hunt Midwest is one of the pillars of the Lamar Hunt Family's holdings, which include interests in real estate, sports/entertainment, energy/natural resources, and private equity. Other marquee brands include the Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bulls, FC Dallas, Hunt Southwest, and Trinity Hunt. Learn more at  HuntMidwest.com.

About Ace Hardware

Ace Hardware is the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world, serving more than 8,700 locally owned and operated stores around the globe, while providing the best products, services, and operating methods to almost 5,200 Ace retail stores in the United States. Ace Hardware's family of brands includes Ace Hardware, Emery Jensen Distribution, and independent retailers worldwide. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., Ace operates an expansive network of U.S. distribution centers, along with international capabilities in Ningbo, China, and Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico.  Since 1924, Ace has been a part of local communities, known as the place with the helpful hardware folks. For more information, visit acehardware.com or newsroom.acehardware.com.