A $650 million development agreement to build a new nuclear weapons plant for Honeywell is bound for the Kansas City Council after being endorsed Friday by a development agency.</p><p>The board of the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority of Kansas City voted unanimously to approve the plan, which calls for a private developer, CenterPoint Zimmer LLC, to build a 1.4 million-square-foot campus at Missouri 150 and Botts Road.</p><p>The federal government has agreed to a 20-year lease, a move that will allow Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies to remain in operation in a more efficient facility and keep 2,100 jobs in Kansas City. The facility manufactures non-nuclear parts for weapons.</p><p>Honeywell is currently in the Bannister Federal Complex, a former World War II defense plant.</p><p>The deal would cost $1.2 billion over the life of the lease.</p><p>The plan is expected to be introduced to the City Council in about three weeks.</p><p>As has been the case since it was first proposed 1&frac12; years ago, the development deal was criticized by peace and environmental activists who supported nuclear disarmament and believed that not enough was being done to clean up pollution at the current Bannister plant.</p><p>An overflow audience of about 60 people attended the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority hearing. Among the more creative critics was a rap duo, The Recipe, who performed a critique called &ldquo;Self-Destruction.&rdquo; &ldquo;We want green collar jobs, not defense dollars,&rdquo; were among the lyrics. </p><p>Jane Stoever, a member of PeaceWorks, said, &ldquo;Kansas City is rolling out a red carpet for a plant that deals in death.&rdquo;</p><p>Supporters pointed to the economic benefit of the annual $211 million payroll and the plant&rsquo;s importance to national defense. </p><p>Because it is being developed privately, the plant would be on the tax rolls for the first time, generating new property tax revenue.</p><p>&ldquo;Everybody has worked hard to keep this in Kansas City, and keep these jobs and tax revenues locally,&rdquo; said Kevin Breslin, the Chicago attorney who represents the CenterPoint Zimmer joint venture.</p><p> CenterPoint is based in suburban Chicago; Zimmer Real Estate Development is a Kansas City firm.</p><p>David Kendrick of the Greater Kansas City Building and Construction Trades Council said his organization supported the project, which is expected to employ 1,800 construction workers.</p><p>Private financing for the project is expected to be completed by this winter, depending on City Council approval, and construction is expected to start in March 2010. The timetable calls for the first buildings to open in July 2012.