From Buc-ee’s and Google to Margaritaville and Panasonic, big names are betting on KC

MetroWire Media hosted its KC Mega Developments Summit 2025 last week. Panelists Mike Bell, SVP of Hunt Midwest; Tim Holverson, president of De Soto Economic Development Council; Greg Kindle, president of Wyandotte Economic Development Council; Bart Lowen, VP of development at Price Brothers; Jolene Mead, SHRM-SCP, chief of staff at Port KC; and Richard Napper, managing partner of NAR Realty Consulting, LLC, showcased some of the mega-developments in the Kansas City area in which their organizations are involved. Terrell (TJ) Jolly, MBA, founder and CEO of Integrity Capital Management, LLC, moderated.

Bell said the 3300-acre KCI 29 Logistics Park is the only mega site in the state of Missouri. The project, located in what Hunt Midwest describes as the logistics epicenter of the United States, will house more than 20 million SF of class-A industrial space. According to Bell, Ace Hardware is locating its 1.5 million SF distribution center there, and Project Falcon (revealed in the press to be Amazon.com, Inc.) is also taking space.

In March of last year, Google announced it was building a $1 billion data center at Hunt Midwest Business Center.

“Google was the first hyper-scaler that actually looked at Kansas City. . . . The other thing for Kansas City is that this is the largest single investment that Google ever made,” said Bell.

Bell said Google will bring in people to train and who will work on the project.

“If you ask Google, and this was in one of their press releases, it’s a generational job for them. So these construction workers, it’s not temporary. . . . [S] Some of those folks will be there, literally get married, have kids, and see their kids graduate. So, that has a major impact on Kansas City. Not to mention because it’s technology, other companies want to be nearby, and we’re seeing it right now,” Bell said.

Bell said Google is also working with the North Kansas City School District, creating a public-private partnership in which Google helps the schools and the workforce and training. This partnership will ultimately promote the spec development of industrial projects and attract manufacturing jobs to Kansas City, said Bell.

“We’ve done $6.2 billion over the last 10 years in Wyandotte County. This year I would expect that our capital investment goal would be closer to a $1 billion. . . . These numbers are really big,” said Kindle.

One mega project in the works in Wyandotte County is Buc-ee’s, which will be located near the Kansas Speedway. The project is outside of the STAR Bond district, and Buc-ee’s will pay property taxes from day 1, Kindle said.

“Buc-ee’s has a cult following. Everybody loves Buc-ee’s. . . . It sucks you in, and then 45 minutes later, you come out with $50 worth of things you didn’t think you really needed. About 120 fuel pumps plus the electric charging. It is like a city. Five thousand plus people a day will visit Buc-ee’s in that location, and 70 percent of those folks will be from outside of Wyandotte County. . . . There will be tons of folks coming through there. . . . The project has 250 employees, and they pay really good wages,” said Kindle.

Wyandotte County is also home to a state-of-the-art youth sports facility developed by Homefield, a local amateur youth sports company. The facility is located near the site of the former Schlitterbahn Waterpark, which Homefield dismantled. Napper said the project features an indoor volleyball and basketball facility.

Above: Over 200 attendees listen in on the current Kansas City metro area mega-developments at the 2025 KC Mega Development Summit hosted by Metrowire Media at the Aspira Campus auditorium.

“Really what we want to do is give the youth athlete and their parents the best facilities possible and then in between games overnight give them food and lodging and entertainment options that are better than they’ve had anywhere else,” Napper said.

Some amenities under development for these visitors include the Margaritaville Hotel Kansas City, a $150 million, 229-room full-service resort, and Atlas9, an entertainment venue, which Napper described as an immersive museum that is “unlike anything you’ve ever seen.” Dimensional Innovations is partnering on the Atlas9 project.

Approximately 25 miles to the south of the Homefield project sits Bluhawk, a mixed-use development anchored by the recently opened AdventHealth Sports Park, a 420,000 SF youth sports facility. The first phase of the project is complete. Ninety-seven percent of the built retail space is occupied, said Lowen.

“Youth sports is, in my opinion, tomorrow’s anchor to mixed-use developments,” he said.

Because the Bluhawk project is using STAR Bonds, it must attract visitors from out of state.

“You’ve got to create something that is going to drive people to that location. Quite simply, it’s taking all those experiences and putting it in one walkable[location]—I call it adjacency—that just brings all of that together to a place that just creates a qualitative experience that everybody wants. Just put it all together. Just offer it,” said Lowen.

According to Holverson, the $4 billion Panasonic electric vehicle battery plant under construction is transforming the community of De Soto, Kansas, which boasts approximately 6700 residents. With the plant has come new infrastructure as well as much private sector investment, including more than 1000 apartment units, approximately 500 single-family homes, a number of townhomes and duplexes, and new retail. The plant is projected to employ, ultimately, 4,000 people.

“De Soto’s sales tax revenues are up 88 percent year over year. Starting maybe from a smaller number, but we’ve seen tremendous growth and really just project that to continue on,” Holverson said.

Improvements to the Berkley Riverfront represent the culmination of a plan that’s been in play for 35 years, Mead said.

“I think we’ve arrived at something really great,” she said.

The opening in 2018 of the Union Berkley Riverfront Apartments, a mixed-use residential project developed by Flaherty & Collins Properties, brought residents back to the Riverfront.

“People hadn’t lived on the Riverfront for decades, and I think that’s really impressive. It’s kind of been just the building blocks to get us where we’re at,” she said.

The partnership between Port KC and Kansas City Current also has been transformative for the Riverfront development, including the construction of the

CPKC Stadium is the first in the world purpose-built women’s stadium, Mead said.

Another project which has been several years in the making is the South Loop Project, which Mead called “game-changing”. Plans for the collaborative effort led by Port KC, Downtown Council of Kansas City and Kansas City, Missouri, include creating a sustainable urban park over Interstate 670.

“It’s going to bring people back Downtown in droves, even more so than now. And we all know that life is better when there is green space and when there is access to green space,” Mead said.

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Header image: Lisa Shackelford (far left) with the panelists at the 2025 KC Mega Development Summit (L to R): Terrell (TJ) Jolly, Mike Bell, Jolene Mead, Richard Napper, Greg Kindle, Tim Holverson, Bart Lowen. Image credit: Jacia Phillips | Arch Photo KC

Hunt Midwest's SubTropolis expands to meet today’s need for speed

Hunt Midwest has announced plans to build out an additional 700,000 SF of Class-A space in SubTropolis, the world’s largest underground business complex.

This expansion, built on speculation, provides an excellent solution for warehousing and distribution operations struggling to meet the current supply chain and speed-to-market demands created by today’s online shoppers.

With more than 7,000,000 SF of industrial space, SubTropolis offers benefits beyond traditional above-ground industrial buildings. Lower operations and leasing costs top the list, along with a naturally temperature-controlled climate, ideal for storing inventory with a limited lifespan or specific temperature needs.

“The naturally climate-controlled environment in SubTropolis provides a low-cost solution for distribution space in the heart of the logistics corridor,” said Mike Bell, senior vice president with Hunt Midwest.

SubTropolis delivers warm-shell warehousing with demisable space from 50,000 – 300,000 SF and occupancy in 90 – 120 days. The short build-out period ensures that businesses experiencing rapid growth can scale operations to continue to meet consumer demand in a timely manner.

“Building a business complex into limestone cliffs isn’t something that’s done every day. But Hunt Midwest has been able to successfully leverage one of Kansas City’s natural resources to create a unique environment that benefits many business models,” Bell said.

A substantial portion of SubTropolis’ footprint is currently occupied by e-commerce, archival and document storage, pharmaceutical and animal health facilities and food distributors.

The complex’s location also adds value, as Kansas City is the most centrally-located of major U.S. markets. KC is at the heart of a railway corridor reaching from coast to coast and Canada to Mexico and the Kansas City International Airport moves more air cargo each year than any airport within a six-state region.

Tenants residing in SubTropolis reach 90 percent of the country with their products within two days via ground or air, resulting in reduced delivery costs.

Combined with other features such as an on-site, low-latency fiber network and 24/7/365 armed security, the expanding footprint of SubTropolis is poised to support the future growth and business needs of industries focused on keeping up with today’s fast-paced economy.

About Hunt Midwest: Hunt Midwest is a dynamic real estate development company privately held by the Lamar Hunt family. Based in Kansas City with over 50 years of development, construction and management experience, Hunt Midwest’s wide range of projects include industrial, commercial, mission critical, self-storage, residential, multifamily, senior living, mixed use and SubTropolis, the world’s largest underground business complex. Hunt Midwest is part of the Lamar Hunt family’s diverse portfolio of entities involved in real estate, sports/media, energy/resources and private equity investments. In addition to Hunt Midwest, marquee entities include the Kansas City Chiefs, Hunt Southwest, FC Dallas Soccer Club, Toyota Stadium, Chicago Bulls and United Center.

About SubTropolis: As the world’s largest underground business complex, SubTropolis sets the standard for subsurface business developments. SubTropolis was created through the mining of a 270-million-year-old limestone deposit creating a 1,200-acre real estate development. In the mining process, limestone is removed by the room and pillar method, leaving 25-foot square pillars that are on 65-foot centers and 40 feet apart. SubTropolis is home to more than 55 local, regional, national and international companies that employ in excess of 2,000 people.

Developers say e-commerce, amenities will drive successful future

An ABC Heart of America webinar recap

This week Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) Heart of America held an online developers panel moderated by Eric Mann with Emery Sapp & Sons.

Panelists included Andy Ashwal, VP, senior asset manager of GFI Management, Mike Bell, senior vice president of Hunt Midwest and Oscar Healy, regional vice president of Opus Design Build.

The discussion focused on the challenges as well as the opportunities surrounding future development resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the trends the panelists are seeing skyrocket is e-commerce and the need for additional storage space as the U.S. supply chain has relied on ‘just in time’ delivery for many consumer products that are imported and shipped overseas.

“You’re going to see a change from ‘just in time’ deliveries to having a 5% safety stock being held in distribution facilities. Based upon different national brokers, you’ll hear numbers ranging from 500 million to 750 million SF of additional industrial space needed just to supply distribution centers that 5% safety stock,” said Bell. 

“It will bring manufacturing back to the US. I think ‘Made in America’ will mean something more than it has in the past, said Healy.

The panelists also predict a surge of data centers to help fuel e-commerce.

“Kansas City is seeing the first wave of data centers. We’ve always been seen as a lower-level tertiary market, said Bell. 

Panelists agreed other side-markets to the e-commerce industry include an increase in the need for robotics and higher, stacked building spaces.

The importance of the ‘live, work, play, stay’ concept of living is not going away anytime soon. Having amenities for offices and apartments will become of even greater value to millennials who might be staying in lofts and apartments longer than they expected.

“I think the trend of millennials staying in multifamily or maybe moving up to larger multifamily spaces is going to continue (as) they’re going to start to have children. They’re going to need services for their children there and play spaces. That has not existed in the Kansas City market, said Ashwal.

The need for additional on-site package delivery storage was also discussed.

“The ripple-effect of what’s going to happen on the office and multifamily side is there will be a need for larger package rooms to accept trackable deliveries. Refrigerated storage in office buildings will be a new trend to accommodate employees that want packages delivered to their office to bring home,” said Ashwal. 

Some of the obstacles the panelists are seeing now and going forward are cost of construction and shortage of labor.

“Material increases and labor shortages have caused issues on our side from a development perspective, said Bell.

The panelists agreed that municipalities that are “developer-friendly” will be more attractive to developers going forward more than ever before.

“If you don’t have a tax incentive or tax abatement in some of our various cities or counties, you’re at a competitive disadvantage,” said Healy.

The discussion ended with hope that the pandemic is creating opportunities, especially for industrial development because of Kansas City’s well-built infrastructure and land availability. Also, KC offers 90% of the U.S. within a two-day shipping window.

Associated Builders & Contractors Heart of America is a commercial construction trade association serving contractors and construction related firms across Missouri and Kansas. ABC connects contractors to industry information and safety resources; serve as advocates at the state, local, and federal level; and provide a variety of educational opportunities for those in the industry including our federally registered apprenticeship program in multiple trades.

Sponsors of the event included: Nabholz Construction, Emery Sapp & Sons, Fogel-Anderson Construction, IMA Financial Group, HTH Corporation and Autodesk.

Pharmaceutical and e-commerce companies continue to thrive in SubTropolis

Less than a year after locating in SubTropolis, pharmaceutical company Nostrum Laboratories and online retailer FarmFoods have expanded their respective footprints a combined 52,000 SF within the world’s largest underground business complex.

Nostrum Laboratories more than tripled the size of its distribution facility while FarmFoods increased its footprint six-fold.

“We can deliver Class-A industrial space to our tenants in as little as 120 days, allowing companies like Nostrum and FarmFoods the ability to capitalize on the growth of their business,” said Mike Bell, senior vice president of commercial development at Hunt Midwest.

As an Energy Star-rated facility providing 24/7, year-round security, company leaders at New Jersey-based Nostrum Laboratories recognized the value proposition SubTropolis offered in meeting their climate-controlled requirements for product safety and quality control.

“The consistent control room temperature ranges in the underground allow us to efficiently meet these  requirements. Onsite security staff provide an additional level of security and peace of mind to our team,” said Teneshia Powell, senior production manager at Nostrum Laboratories. 

A soaring increase in online grocery shopping triggered the need for FarmFoods, an online retailer of fresh, farm-to-table food, to quickly expand its packaging and distribution facility to keep up with consumer demand.

“As a nationwide distributor, timely delivery of our products to consumers is critical. Locating in SubTropolis has allowed us to reach 90% of the United States within two days and in these uncertain times, quick, reliable food delivery is more important than ever,” said Janna Land, co-founder and chief operations officer at California-based FarmFoods.

Earlier this year, Hunt Midwest completed construction of 400,000 SF of speculative Class-A industrial and warehouse-logistics space, bringing the amount of leasable space in SubTropolis to more than 6.5 million SF.

With more than 7.5 million SF available for development and its adjacency to robust highway infrastructure, SubTropolis continues to offer an ideal option for growing e-commerce companies.