This is a developing story.
Platform Ventures, the development company that owns a south Kansas City warehouse that federal agents toured last month to consider for an immigrant detention center, announced today that it is not moving forward with the sale.
In a statement emailed to KCUR, Platform Ventures said it “is not actively engaged with the U.S. Government or any other prospective purchaser” over the warehouse, at 14901 Botts Road.
“While typically we do not comment on potential transactions, baseless speculation, inaccurate narratives, and serious threats toward our leadership, our employees and our families have prompted us to issue this statement,” Platform Ventures wrote.
The Washington Post reported in late December on the Trump administration’s plans to renovate industrial warehouses across the U.S. into detention centers for immigrants. Kansas City was listed as a possible location, according to the Post.
And federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement toured the large warehouse in south Kansas City on Jan. 15. Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca IV confronted the agents at the warehouse and then joined the tour. Abarca confirmed the federal agency’s interest in turning the warehouse into a massive detention center for immigrants.
Platform Ventures said in its statement that it was approached by a “third-party private enterprise” over the warehouse, and “entered into preliminary negotiations consistent with the fiduciary duties owed to our investors.” The identity of that third-party private enterprise is unclear.
“As negotiations concluded, we learned the purchasing party was the U.S. Government,” the statement said. “Over the course of the building sale process, we determined that the terms no longer met our fiduciary requirements for a timely closing. Therefore, we chose not to move forward.”
The company has largely been silent and vague about its plans for the warehouse, previously releasing just one short, written statement through the controversy. Platform Ventures emphasized in its latest statement its local roots, as the company’s owners, brothers Ryan and Terry Anderson, were born and raised in Kansas City.
“The momentum in Kansas City is real, and we are proud to play a role in it,” the company said. “We remain focused on protecting and serving our investors’ interests. And our commitment to Kansas City remains unchanged.”
How the city spoke out
In a social media post Thursday, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas acknowledged Venture Platforms' decision, but insisted there was work left to be done to insure such a facility isn't located somewhere else in the area.
"While Kansas City welcomes any news suggesting the halting of a planned conversion of a warehouse," Lucas wrote, "I will continue with our legislative, legal efforts, and community engagement to ensure no warehouse or similar facility in Kansas City or nearby is converted to a mass encampment warehouse of persons that is offensive to the dignity and human rights of those who would be detained within it."
In response to federal immigration agents touring the warehouse in January, the Kansas City Council swiftly passed a ban on any permits or approvals for nonmunicipal detention facilities. The ban is in effect until Jan. 15, 2031, though it’s not clear if such a rule would have stopped the federal government from moving forward with its plans.
News of a potential immigrant detention center in Kansas City sparked fierce public backlash over the past month. At rallies and protests, many people called on Platform Ventures to not sell the building to the federal government.
"You're going to have a fight because we're going to be out here. We're going to do what we can to keep that from happening,” Kansas City resident DC Okonta said of the immigrant detention center, during a downtown protest last month. “We're going to put pressure on our city officials, county officials, state officials, and we're going to do whatever we got to do to make sure ICE does not make a home here in Kansas City.”
Earlier this week, economic development agency Port KC voted to cut ties with Platform Ventures. Port KC first struck a deal with Platform Ventures in 2022 to build that warehouse and bring manufacturing and logistics jobs to the area. The deal included a 95% property tax break until 2032.
The warehouse is part of the I-49 Industrial Center, on the site of the former Richards Gebaur Air Force Base.
“Those should not be utilized for any other purpose, including the purpose that has been stated and has been publicly reported,” Port KC CEO Jon Stephens told the group's board of commissioners on Monday.
