Rapper Kanye West’s company has put seven of its commercial properties in Cody on the market.
In a development that raises questions for the economic boom expected to follow the move of West’s Yeezy shoe company to Cody, the seven properties officially owned by Psalm Cody Commercial LLC have been listed for sale at a total price tag of $3.2 million.
The listing of the properties comes less than two years after they were purchased.
Two of the seven properties for sale through DBW Realty have structures on them, the other five are vacant lots, ranging in size from 0.66 to 2 acres. The most expensive property is a business building Big Horn Avenue, at the northeast entrance to Cody, with a list price of $1,299,000.
The sale, which was made public late last week, casts into doubt the high hopes for a much-needed boost to the town of 10,000 that relies primarily on tourism and agriculture for its economic foundation.
Kanye West’s announcement in 2019 that he was moving his Yeezy Shoe operation to Cody was welcomed by local economic leaders.
In October 2019, it was reported that the Grammy-winning billionaire had purchased commercial property in Cody, just a month after his widely publicized purchase of the Monster Lake Ranch south of town.
Psalm Cody Commercial received approval from the Park County Planning and Zoning Board to put up a 4,800-square-foot temporary structure on one of the properties structure to house the Yeezy Adidas operation.
The board stipulated, however, that the company must take the pre-fabricated structure down within 60 days after the six-month temporary period
.“If the thing’s still there after a year, then we have a problem,” Richard Jones, P&Z board member, said at the time.
The pre-fab building is still there, two years later.
Less than six months after West’s purchase of the Big Horn Avenue property, Psalm Cody Commercial made a deal with Lannett Corp. to allow for use of its abandoned building on County Road 2AB, in the industrial corridor north of Cody.
The Pennsylvania-based drug manufacturing company had originally leased the land for its building from Forward Cody, the town’s economic development organization, but chose to move its operations elsewhere before construction was even completed.
In July of 2020, it was reported that West’s “Yeezy Apparel” had struck an agreement with Lannett to use the abandoned, half-built structure for production and production support.
However, very little visible progress has been made on the property in the 14 months since that agreement was announced.
The property on County Road 2AB is not owned by Psalm Cody Commercial, according to Park County records.
According to information available, the multi-million dollar ranches that West has purchased south of Cody and at the base of the Big Horn Mountains near Greybull are not listed for sale.
