Port KC threatens to cut ties with firm that ‘intends to sell’ warehouse to ICE
The Port Authority of Kansas City could end negotiations with a local company that plans to sell a warehouse to the federal government for a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility, according to the agency. The potential cut ties are related to talks of Port KC selling additional land to the company and would not directly change anything happening with the warehouse facility in question.
Port KC, which helps carry out big development projects in Kansas City by offering financial incentive plans, has worked with local firm Platform Ventures to build out a large industrial park on the city’s far south side, near Grandview and Belton.
That partnership over the past few years has resulted in what is now known as the I-49 Industrial Center, with multiple warehouse-type buildings in the area of the former Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base.
But the Port KC Board of Commissioner’s agenda for Monday includes an item that would cut off ties with Platform Ventures that would signal its disapproval of the company’s alleged plans to turn a warehouse into an ICE detention center in KC.
Cutting off Platform Ventures
Past reporting shows that Platform Ventures is a big player in Kansas City real estate and development and has been tied to high-profile projects like the redevelopment of the old Kansas City Club building downtown that houses Hotel Kansas City. Brothers Ryan and Terry Anderson are co-founders and co-presidents of the company, according to their LinkedIn profiles and since-removed pages on the company’s website.
According to a proposed resolution that the Port KC board will vote on, Platform Ventures and its affiliates own or control about 195 acres of property in the area of the industrial park. Port KC owns more land to the south, in an area the agency calls 49 Crossing, and has sought further development on it.
The agenda item says that Platform Ventures has expressed interest in buying an additional 305 acres from Port KC for more industrial development in the 49 Crossing area.
But while negotiating the sale of that additional land, Port KC learned that Platform Ventures “intends to sell” an approximately 1 million-square-foot facility in the industrial park, “to the federal government for use as a detention facility by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” according to Port KC documents.
Such a sale would come as President Donald Trump’s administration has ramped up immigration enforcement, detention and deportation efforts over the past year.
“That sale is inconsistent with the intended industrial use that was represented to Port KC and which would have benefited the public good through increased tax revenues to the relevant taxing jurisdiction, the creation of new jobs, and the remediation of blight,” the agenda item says.
“The sale of land that might be used in a manner that is inconsistent with Port KC’s statutory mission and community expectations is not in the public interest.”
The Port KC board is expected to vote on Monday whether to terminate any negotiations with Platform Ventures for the sale of additional land in the area. Officials would be directed to pursue other offers.
ICE facility in KC?
Previous reports have indicated that federal agents visited a large warehouse tied to Platform Ventures at 14901 Botts Rd. last week. Jackson County Legislative Chair Manny Abarca said that DHS agents told him on site that ICE and DHS are planning to build a detention facility with capacity for about 7,500 beds there.
The roughly 920,000-square-foot space was built in 2023, with Port KC help, as a speculative warehouse.
Platform Ventures said in a statement last week that it received an “unsolicited offer” on “a vacant, industrial warehouse” in October and that “negotiations are complete.” The company did not say who made the offer.
Port KC reiterated on Friday that the warehouse property 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, which city officials placed a moratorium on approving 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.
This story was originally published January 23, 2026 at 7:03 PM.