Paris Brothers, a national specialty foods company providing warehousing, logistics, and distribution services, recently signed a new lease agreement for more warehouse space within Hunt Midwest SubTropolis in Kansas City MO.
As the largest SubTropolis tenant, Paris Brothers leases more than 500,000 square feet of warehouse, cooler, and freezer space spanning four buildings in the underground. The new lease accommodates growth of Paris Brothers’ largest warehousing and logistics customer by adding 21,600 square feet of dry warehouse space. In addition, the company added 20,557 square feet of freezer space, which it uses to store products ranging from commodity foodstuffs to specialty ingredients for local and national clientele.
Paris Brothers originally leased 111,580 square feet of space when it moved to the SubTropolis in 2000. Since then, the company has grown several times to accommodate expanded divisions in freight expediting, food manufacturing, specialty coffee warehousing, as well as artisan cheese aging and distribution.
In 2005, Paris Brothers launched its specialty coffee division, which warehouses specialty grade coffees from throughout the world. With this, the underground location at SubTropolis became the only certified organic, naturally climate-controlled coffee warehouse facility in the United States. That same year, Paris Brothers launched its artisan coffee roasting company, Parisi Artisan Coffee.
Paris Brothers was named by the United States Department of Agriculture as its National Small Business Contractor of the Year for 2011.
SubTropolis’ climate-controlled and humidity-controlled environment is suitable for storing all types of products—especially food perishables including poultry, meats, fruits, and vegetables. The underground location has even contributed to the creation of new products like naturally “cave-aged” cheeses.
Trucks are loaded and unloaded inside of SubTropolis, which is protected from the elements and exterior temperature fluctuations.
In 1983, the Paris Brothers—Salvatore and Joseph Paris—started a popcorn manufacturing and distribution company called Sally Jo’s Old Fashioned Popcorn. What started with two brothers using one truck servicing Kansas City-area restaurants and foodservice outlets has grown to become a national specialty foods company. The company’s products consist of more than 4,500 food items, including 600 cheese and charcuterie products. Paris Brothers employs nearly 100 associates.
As the largest underground business complex in the world, Hunt Midwest SubTropolis was created through the mining of a 270-million-year-old limestone deposit. In the mining process, limestone is removed by the room and pillar method, leaving 25-foot square pillars that are on 65-foot centers and 40 feet apart.
Tenants benefit from lease rates that are 30% to 50% less than aboveground facilities; low utility costs that offer 50% to 70% savings in total energy costs; and the largest foreign-trade zone under one roof in the United States. SubTropolis is home to more than 50 local, regional, national, and international companies that operate underground and employ more than 1,500 people.
