Ingram’s January 2023

Outlook 2023 KC Builders See Opportunity

Kansas City is about to open a new front door to the world, with the single-terminal configuration of its new international airport officially just weeks away. Unofficially, the construction at KCI is done, project executives said this month; now it’s a matter of finishing up some key details. That work should be done before thousands of visitors descend on this region—and pressure-test the capacity of KCI to match its predecessor’s famed ease of access and escape. At that point, construction executives say, Kansas City’s ticket will be punched for a years- long flight of growth and exposure to the world. Consider: even before the NFL draft starts on April 27, two transformational construction projects are already moving dirt: The massive Panasonic Energy bat tery plant in De Soto, which will employ 4,000 people when it opens in 2025 at an estimated cost of $4 billion. In the Northland, Facebook’s parent, Meta, is moving forward with the first part of a sprawling 900-acre data-center campus, a project with a decades-long buildout schedule that could generate $100 bil lion in investment. Yes, with a “b.” Each of those, in turn, is expected to produce equivalent investment in projects that provide retail, office, res idential, and infrastructure support for the main efforts. That’s especially true for Johnson County: the Panasonic plant will occupy but a fraction of the 9,000 acre site that was once home to the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant. The new factory is expected to pull in additional manufacturing with Pana- sonic vendors and create additional With the new KCI virtually in place, the region is ready to take off, construction executives say.

KC Street Car pansion of the Downtown streetcar line between the River Market at UMKC (cost: $254 million), the potential for a new baseball stadium Downtown (esti- mated cost: $2 billion, including sur- rounding-area development), and the in- calculable economic benefits of being a FIFA World Cup host city in 2026— well, let’s just say there’s a lot on the civic agenda for several years to come. momentum for a decade-long buildup of the region’s warehousing and distri bution centers. Then factor in the continuing ex

So if a national recession is in the offing, there’s reason to hope that the Kansas City region isn’t on its itinerary. For some companies, participation in any downturn will be purely optional. Those are just a few reasons why con struction-sector executives are optimis tic about the near-term prospects in this region. And for Rosie Privitera Biondo of Mark One Electric, there may be even more to celebrate. A proposal to put a cap over Interstate 670 Downtown could not only create enough space to accom

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I n g r a m ’ s

Kansas City’s Business Media

January 2023