Video Credit - City of Wichita
Cargill Sets its Sights on New Wichita Headquarters
Earlier this fall, developer Brandon Steven was proud to confirm news about Cargill's plans to construct it's new Wichita headquarters at the sight of the old Wichita Eagle building at 825 East Douglas Avenue. After a lengthy selection process, the venerated American agricultural firm is excited to move forward with its new building's strikingly modern design.
The new building's high-tech, intuitive design is expect to make it a productive space for both Cargill's new 800-employee campus and other local business tenants, the Wichita Eagle potentially among them. The paper has occupied the site of the new Cargill headquarters for decades. Long before the red ribbon is cut on the new campus, Wichita will already be seeing benefits, according to Brandon Steven. A wide variety of new construction jobs are expected to come from the new building's ambitious design and year-long construction.
"This will create a ton of new jobs just in construction alone," Steven told Kansas .com reporter Carrie Rengers, dubbing the project another important step for downtown regeneration and "advancing the quality of our community." Local vendors such as markets and restaurants are also expected to benefit from the project, not just up on it's completion but during construction as well.
Brandon Stevens has been at the forefront of a variety of similar entrepreneurial efforts to help strengthen the downtown Wichita business community, and to make it an attractive place for the region's wide variety of future-focused commercial interests.
Many in the Wichita region will be familiar with Cargill, which today is one of the world's largest companies in the grain and agricultural commodities industry. In addition to grain distribution, the firm also specializes in the production of livestock feed.
Cargill anticipates to move in to its new headquarters by the end of 2018. Though not publically released, designs of the new building illustrate a contemporary design with a large mezzanine that's expected to be one of the crown jewels of the city's ambitious growth toward the future.
According to Kansas .com, Cargill's decision to remain in Wichita "was the paramount decision in the whole process," said Gary Plummer, president and CEO of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce.