OLATHE, Kan. — A major Midwest bottling company is looking to expand with a new 1 million-square-foot facility in south Olathe. 

On Monday the Olathe Planning Commission voted 5-0 to approve a preliminary development plan for a new Coca-Cola bottling facility. 

The Lenexa-based bottler and distributor Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling Company intends to create a new bottling facility on roughly 116 acres located south of W. 167th St. and west of Hedge Lane.

The new 1 million square foot facility will be built out in two phases. The first phase will include the construction of roughly 14,157 square feet of office space, 287,329 square feet of warehouse space and 311,800 square feet of production, equipment and recycling space. 

The second phase will create an additional 277,590 square feet of warehouse space and 215,978 square feet of production and equipment space. 

The developer will create 207 parking spaces east of the building in Phase 1 with an additional 200 spaces to be built in Phase 2. Plans for the facility also include more than 800 trailer parking spaces and 103 tractor parking spaces. 

Once the facility is complete it will be in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Employees will work in two, 12-hour shifts. The company anticipates roughly 86 employees will work the first shift and 66 employees will work the second shift.

The preliminary site plan will now progress to the Olathe City Council for further review. A final development plan must be approved by the council before work can begin.

If all plans are approved, the developer intends to begin construction in April with the facility opening in August of 2024. 

Production will continue at Heartland’s current facility in Lenexa while the new campus is being built. Heartland’s Lenexa Distribution Center and headquarters office will remain in Lenexa.