Developer Johnny Stevens interested in Boeing’s southeast Wichita site

Real estate broker Johnny Stevens and a partner are interested in the sprawling Boeing Wichita site that’s up for sale, Stevens confirmed on Monday.

“We’re investigating,” Stevens said.

He wouldn’t name his partner.

Beyond that, Stevens said, “I can’t comment.”

Stevens’ name has been circulating around the city as a party that has been interested in the property in southeast Wichita.

In early November, a Boeing spokeswoman said that Boeing was in discussions with a prospective buyer for the site, but she wouldn’t disclose further details while contract negotiations were underway.

Boeing announced in January 2012 that it would close its long-standing Wichita facility and move work to Oklahoma City, San Antonio and the Seattle area. Wichita operations ceased last summer. In July, it sold thousands of items at a public auction.

A handful of workers are still in Wichita to keep up the site until it sells.

Stevens is a longtime Wichita broker, oilman and developer.

He bought the Kansas Coliseum complex from Sedgwick County in 2011 for $1.5 million and convinced John Tomblin, the executive director of Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research, to turn the arena into an aviation center to conduct full-scale structural testing.

Stevens has said he invested more than $4 million in remodeling the arena, which is being leased by NIAR.

He also partnered with Steve Clark in the Waterfront development at 13th and Webb, where Whole Foods Market opened earlier this year.

Boeing began marketing its Wichita site early last year. It’s been working with national real estate firm CBRE Group to sell the property.

Its facilities include 97 buildings with 1.9 million square feet on 413 acres of land. The complex includes everything from an office complex and large hangars to tool sheds and guard buildings.

No time frame has been given for selling the Boeing property, and there is no indication about whether the property would be sold as a single site or be divided into parcels.

This story was originally published December 1, 2014 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Developer Johnny Stevens interested in Boeing’s southeast Wichita site."