Kansas City, Missouri could soon be home to a new auto parts manufacturer and 375 new jobs.
The Kansas City Council's Planning and Zoning Committee Wednesday advanced plans for Challenge Manufacturing Co., a contractor for General Motors, to move into a space near Kansas City International Airport.
The company requested $56 million in bonds and 75 percent tax abatement for 10 years from the city.
Planning and Zoning Chair Scott Taylor says the company had considered several different sites, including Kansas City, Kansas, but its first pick was near KCI.
"New auto component companies have a lot of choices," Taylor said. "The fact that they picked Kansas City, Missouri and [a space] near KCI where we've been really aggressively trying to locate new jobs and companies is important."
Alicia Stephens of the Platte County Economic Development Council says her organization and its Kansas City, Missouri, counterparts worked hard to court an auto manufacturer for the space, and they expect more than jobs to come out of the arrangement.
"There are still more taxes that will be coming in," Stephens said. "[Employees] have to buy groceries, gas and milk, and hopefully they'll buy houses. We'd love to see them in Platte County close to where the location is."
The Planning and Zoning Committee also advanced a plan to expand St. Michael's Veterans Center on Kansas City's east side. St. Michael's is looking to build 59 new residential units and a 7,000-square-foot service center for struggling and homeless veterans in Kansas City.
Those plans and improvement districts for the Watts Mill and Red Bridge shopping centers now move to the full council for debate.
