Ingram’s January 2023

modate a new home for the Royals, she said; it could infuse Downtown with enough vibrancy and transactional vol- ume “to wipe out the Cordish subsidy the city is paying, and that could free up $25 million a year.” As a region, says JE Dunn’s Darcy Stewart, “we’ve got to be prepared. We really are in uncharted territory.” As for other development, Erica Jones of MCC Corp pointed back to the air- port and the aftermath of the construc tion work. For years, civic and business leaders have complained that the out dated design of KCI provided a poor first impression for visitors. In fact, it was one reason Starbucks declined to bring 1,000 jobs to the region with a new office project, civic leaders say. That barrier to business recruitment is about to go away, Jones noted. “Just think about what the new airport will bring to us,” she said. Agreed, said Monarch Build’s Court ney Kounkel: “What a lot of people aren’t thinking about is the visibility this will have for Kansas City.”

Big-Ticket Projects Headlining longer-term construction work that will run into 2024 and beyond are projects that include: n The $4 billion Panasonic Energy plant in De Soto. n The $800 million Golden Plains Data Center in the Northland (Phase 1) n The $570 million reconstruction of U.S. 69 in Johnson County. n The $220 million rebuild of the Buck O’Neil Bridge over the Missouri River. n The $214 million streetcar extension project between Downtown and UMKC. n Shamrock Trading’s $140 million Tower 2 office project in Kansas City. project, slated to be completed the first week of March. n Garmin’s $143 million campus expansion in Olathe, which will add room for several thousand new employees. n The Cordish Cos. will wrap up work on its $140 million Three Light Tower, its latest Downtown luxury-apartment high-rise, in early March. n The Blue Valley school district is winding down a $120 million series of building renovations ahead of the 2023-24 school year. And in 2023, builders will be ramping other major projects, including: n Jackson County’s new $256 million jail, where work began this month and is slated to be completed in the fall of 2025. n The University of Missouri-Kansas City is expected to break ground late this year on its $100 million Health Innovation Discovery Building on the Downtown campus. But some larger construction projects are scheduled to be completed this year, including: n Kansas City International Airport’s $1.5 billion single-terminal

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