NorthPoint, UG reach $40M deal for former GM plant site
NorthPoint Development completed a deal Thursday to develop the site of the former General Motors assembly plant.
The Board of Commissioners of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., approved a $40 million development agreement for what is dubbed Central Industrial Park, which could yield 2,000 jobs.
The agreement clears the way for NorthPoint to close its purchase of the 80-acre site in the Fairfax Industrial District from the RACER Trust, which was created to dispose of GM real estate in its bankruptcy.
NorthPoint expects to start site work in the summer and begin construction on 1 million square feet of industrial space in the fall, with the first occupants moving in by the fall of 2014. No tenants have been announced yet, but the site figures to be a prime location for auto parts suppliers with its proximity to the current GM plant.
The Unified Government put together a package of incentives including industrial revenue bonds, a community improvement district and a transportation development district that will all be contingent on NorthPoint carrying out the development during a six- to 10-year period.
“To see a brownfield site get redeveloped into a premier manufacturing and industrial park, and create an opportunity for new industry that hasn’t existed for 30 years, is thrilling to be a part of,” NorthPoint COO Chad Meyer said in a release. “We are committed to starting infrastructure and rail spur work immediately upon closing to make the project vertical-ready.”
NorthPoint’s investment partner on the project is Jones Lang LaSalle.
Mayor Joe Reardon said in a written statement that the potential job creation “is another powerful testament to what can be achieved through private and public partnerships that help grow our local economy.”
ARTICLE BY: KANSAS CITY BUSINESS JOURNAL – BY PAUL KOEPP
Date: Friday, March 22, 2013
