$600M Zyn Factory Goes Vertical As Airport Industrial Submarket Surges
Philip Morris International’s $600M Zyn factory is officially going up in Aurora. It is one of the largest industrial projects underway in metro Denver and part of a major wave of activity in the airport submarket.
The 800K SF campus near 56th Avenue and Harvest Road will include a 600K SF light manufacturing facility, office space and support buildings. It is slated to begin early operations by the end of 2025 and full production in 2026, according to a 2024 PMI press release.
Philip Morris subsidiary Kairus Inc. acquired the 150-acre site for $61.5M in September.
“The facility has gone vertical, meaning the walls are up,” Aurora Economic Development Council President and CEO Wendy Mitchell told the Denver Business Journal.
She added that build-out alone is expected to generate nearly 5,000 construction-related jobs and $1B in economic impact. Once operational, the plant could support 500 full-time roles with average salaries around $90K a year.
The factory ranks as the second-largest industrial project under construction in metro Denver, behind Pepsi’s 1.2M SF build-to-suit factory, according to CBRE’s first-quarter Denver industrial report.
Four of the five largest projects tracked by CBRE are in the airport submarket, which now accounts for 68% of all industrial construction in the region.
Like nearly half of the construction pipeline, the Zyn plant is build-to-suit, highlighting how tenants with defined long-term needs are driving industrial development even as overall absorption slows.
Metro-wide, Q1 net absorption dipped to 531K SF, while availability rose to 9.6%.
More than three-quarters of Q1 completions were build-to-suit buildings or preleased, according to CBRE.
The AEDC spent 11 months courting PMI, according to a press release, citing workforce access and utility-ready land as key attractions.
The plant is expected to generate $550M in annual economic impact once online, according to PMI and the AEDC.
