KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Hunt Midwest’s new KCI 29 Logistics Park is set to receive its next injection of funding.
The Port Authority of Kansas City’s Development Committee unanimously recommended approving up to $140 million in revenue bonds for Phase I of the project on Monday.
The resolution now goes before the full Port KC Board of Commissioners on Sept. 25 and is expected to pass.
When Port KC first adopted a resolution expressing its intent to issue bonds for the project, it set a cap of $110 million. That figure had ballooned to $120 million, according to an agenda for Monday's meeting, but committee members voted on a resolution that included an additional $20-million increase.
The Missouri Department of Economic Development announced a $40-million grant in May 2023 for the project, which broke ground in late June. The money came from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, a Biden-era stimulus package Congress passed in March 2021.
Hunt Midwest, which is owned by the family of the late Lamar Hunt and also controls SubTroplois among other holdings, controls 3,300 acres just north of Kansas City International Airport, where it plans to build the largest single-owner industrial “mega site” in Missouri.
The complete KCI 29 project will cost $2.5 billion and eventually will include roughly 20 million square feet of warehouse space.
Phase I of construction will build a 1.55-million-square foot retail support center for Ace Hardware on 103 acres, which should be operational in 2025.
Ace Hardware said the project will create 350 jobs at the new distribution center.
Port KC plans to issue $140 million in taxable revenue bonds for Phase I, which was dubbed Project Gateway. Site work already has started for for project.
Hunt Midwest touted the KCI 29 Logistics Park’s direct access to cargo operations at KCI as a major selling point.
The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council approved the master plan for the project in October 2022. The city agreed to build a new $96-million wastewater treatment facility as part of the project.
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