Colliers Turley Martin Tucker: Kansas City broker helps sell former Payless ShoeSource center in Topeka

A Kansas City broker has orchestrated the sale of the former Payless ShoeSource distribution center in Topeka.

Whitney Kerr Jr., who worked on the deal, said the 812,700-square-foot building had been the largest building available for sale in the region.

Kerr, a principal of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker in Kansas City, represented the seller and the buyer in the transaction, which closed Monday.

The building, at 5040 N.W. U.S. Highway 24, was bought by PTMW Inc., a Topeka manufacturer of railroad signal houses.

“It’s great to get a sale done to a manufacturer in this kind of economy,” Kerr said. “They’re going to add over 100 jobs.”

PTMW, which employs 140, will move from another Topeka location and more than quadruple its square footage with the new space. Kerr would not disclose the purchase price but said the building and about 70 acres of adjacent land had been listed for $11.5 million.

Earlier this year, Kerr also helped Home Depot secure a Topeka location for a new 465,000-square-foot distribution center.

Colliers Turley Martin Tucker has consolidated its ownership structure with Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers, Colliers Pinkard, and Colliers ABR, forming a holding company that is one of the largest commercial real estate service firms in the U.S. In 2008, the consolidated entity completed more than $9.2 billion in worldwide transactions, including over $3.5 billion in capital markets transactions. Currently, the entity manages over 400 million square feet of real estate, and its Corporate Solutions division supports more than 22,000 locations for Fortune 1,000 companies, delivering a new location “Every 80 Minutes.” Colliers International is ranked as one of the 2009 World’s Top 100 outsourcing service providers by International Association of Outsourcing Professionals, IAOP Top 100. For more information about Colliers International, a worldwide affiliation of independently owned and operated companies, visit www.colliers.com.

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