KC firm could sell publicly backed warehouse for ICE. Who is Platform Ventures?
It was quick. The clerk read through a short list of routine, technical and non-controversial matters for the Kansas City City Council to vote on in October 2021.
One item would formally approve creating a tract of land off Botts Road for a “one-lot industrial development” on about 71 acres. The council voted to approve the list without discussion before moving on to more substantive matters.
But council members at the time — some still wearing face masks to prevent the spread of COVID, Joe Biden still president — likely did not imagine that the “industrial development” would, more than four years later, instead reportedly be eyed for a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.
The subdivision request came from Platform Ventures, a local real estate and development firm. By 2023, the company had developed the Botts Road site into a 920,000-square-foot warehouse built on spec — meaning the firm didn’t have a specific tenant in mind. It got help from the Port Authority of Kansas City in the form of $80 million in bonds and tax breaks for the building.
The warehouse appears to still be empty but has potential to become Platform Ventures’ highest-profile development yet.
What is Platform Ventures?
A 2019 cover story in the Kansas City Business Journal called Ryan and Terry Anderson “Kansas City’s own property brothers,” apparently in reference to the popular real estate TV show.
The brothers got their start before they left college, buying up small properties between classes. They have Missouri roots and attended Rockhurst High School before going to Rockhurst University, where they played baseball together, according to the Business Journal.
By 2017, their real estate investment work grew into what became known at Platform Ventures, where the Andersons serve as co-presidents and co-founders.
Platform Ventures quickly became a major player in Kansas City development connected to major projects downtown and beyond. Among them: the transformation of the former Kansas City Club, which houses Hotel Kansas City; the Brookside Commons apartment complex with hundreds of units; and a luxury 55+ development in Fairway.
Past media reports have tied Platform Ventures to real estate holdings like the Polsinelli building and the former Board of Trade building. The company entered the specialty construction space by acquiring Staco, a fast-growing local electrical contracting firm, last September, according to a news release.
Other items of note: a student housing building in Austin, Texas that sold in 2019. An acquisition of a cold storage facility outside Fort Worth in 2024. Taking a majority stake in a Colorado-based homebuilder in 2022. Sponsoring a cold storage firm with facilities in KC — all referenced in contemporaneous news releases.
Not every proposed development project has come to fruition, including a planned new office building near Barney Allis Plaza. And a firm affiliated with Platform Ventures was caught up in court a few years ago over a loan dispute related to the long-vacant former Federal Reserve building, according to the Business Journal.
But Platform Ventures has undoubtedly continued to grow as a full-blown investment firm: from $1.4 billion in assets in 2019 to at least $3.6 billion in assets under management, according to the current version of its website.
Port KC partners with Platform Ventures
Right in Kansas City, Platform Ventures has led on building out massive industrial and warehouse-type buildings on what was once the Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base, making use of vacant land while aiming to bring new business and new jobs to the southernmost parts of the city.
That’s where the Port Authority of Kansas City gets involved. The Port is a unique public agency that can offer financing packages to help developers carry out transformative projects in city limits.
Port KC financing typically includes privately-backed bond funding from investors, which developers are responsible for paying back, alongside property and sales tax breaks. That financial support can help big projects get over the finish line while setting up properties to bring new revenue to the city over the long term with new development.
Port KC partnered with Platform Ventures on developing industrial buildings in the area off Interstate 49 and State Highway 150. That includes a 920,000-square-foot warehouse building off Botts.
The agency supported the large warehouse project through $80 million in bonds and property tax breaks.
That was back in 2022. Port KC later touted what’s known as “Building 7” as “one of the largest speculative industrial buildings in the Kansas City region.”
From industrial jobs to ICE detention
The agency once said that the Building 7 project with Platform Ventures demonstrates how public-private partnerships can “transform former federal property into productive industrial hubs, driving job creation and strengthening regional logistics infrastructure.”
But now, Building 7 could be headed back into federal hands.
The warehouse building was reportedly visited by federal agents earlier this month. Jackson County Legislative Chair Manny Abarca has said that he visited the site and that agents told him they were planning to construct a detention facility with capacity for 7,500 detainees.
In light of President Donald Trump ramping up immigration-related arrests and deportations around the country, and two deaths in Minneapolis during enforcement operations there, that’s led to widespread outcry among city officials and residents.
The Port KC Board of Commissioners was due to take a vote on Monday that would cut off future negotiations with Platform Ventures over the sale of additional land Port KC does own in the area, separate from the warehouse building ICE reportedly visited.
The agency has reiterated that it does not own the warehouse itself and cannot stop a sale.
Port KC said that it learned Platform Ventures “intends to sell” a facility in the industrial park to the federal government for an ICE detention facility, which it said would be inconsistent with the intended use that Platform Ventures represented to the agency.
But the vote did not happen on Monday because the meeting, taken to Zoom due to weather conditions, ran into technical issues. The meeting will be rescheduled.
If Port KC does cut ties with Platform Ventures, it would be a remarkable shift from more than a decade ago. At that time, Port KC struck a deal to remake the former Board of Trade Building at 4800 Main Street in partnership with Mariner Real Estate Management — which later rebranded itself to Platform Ventures.
What’s next for alleged ICE site
Platform Ventures has said that it received an unsolicited offer for a vacant warehouse facility in October and that “negotiations are complete.”
The company said it does not question potential buyers on their intent after closing and that it will not engage in public speculation over future use.
Jackson County records do not yet appear to show a sale. It remains unclear what will ultimately happen at the industrial park.
Port KC’s agenda says that Platform Ventures “intends to sell” the building, suggesting the sale hasn’t gone through yet.
Organizers in Kansas City are urging residents to call the company and ask them to halt the sale.
“The most immediate action was for us to just blast their phones and try to stop the sale,” said Amaia Cook, executive director of local advocacy group Decarcerate KC.
Port KC reiterated on Friday that the warehouse is not Port KC’s to sell and that Platform Ventures does not need Port KC’s permission to sell it.
Kansas City’s zoning code indicates that the warehouse could theoretically be used for a detention center if its owner met certain requirements and obtained a special use permit after a public hearing. City officials placed a moratorium on approving any non-city detention facilities last week in an effort to block ICE from operating a mass detention center in city limits.
That said, the possibility of the federal government’s involvement raises questions about the city’s ability to block an ICE detention site, experts told The Star. Depending on how things play out, the moratorium could be challenged in court, and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has vowed to “use all available legal tools to enforce the moratorium” and fight any future facility.
In a statement Monday evening, an ICE spokesperson said that there are no new detention centers to announce at this time.
“These will not be warehouses — they will be very well structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards,” the statement said.
“Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe. It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and is actively working to expand detention space.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 12:38 PM.