KC group urges developer to stop warehouse sale tied to potential ICE detention
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Activists urge Platform Ventures to stop sale of a 920,000-sq-ft warehouse.
- Advocates fear conversion to an ICE detention center amid increased presence.
- Kansas City Council enacted a five-year moratorium to block detention center permits.
A Kansas City group is urging a local developer to halt the sale of a vacant warehouse after learning it could become a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility.
The building, located in far south Kansas City, has drawn concern from immigration advocates who say a new detention center would expand ICE’s footprint in the metro area amid recent enforcement activity.
Amaia Cook, executive director of Decarcerate KC, said when they heard about the possible sale, their immediate action was letting the company involved, Platform Ventures, hear their opposition.
“For us, as an organization, whose mission is stopping any new detention centers in Kansas City, we were really concerned when we heard about the ICE facility,” Cook said. “The most immediate action was for us to just blast their phones and try to stop the sale.”
Cook said the group has heard another company may be interested in the facility and hopes its efforts could allow that sale to move forward instead.
The potential facility is located in an industrial park in the far south of Kansas City at 14901 Botts Road. The industrial park has replaced the former Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base. The area sits in the southern portion of Kansas City, with Belton to its south and Grandview to the east.
The building is roughly 920,000 square feet, and was built with Port KC’s help in the form of $80 million in bonds and tax breaks. Port KC worked alongside Platform Ventures to develop the industrial area, but the agency is not in control of the facility.
Cook said ICE enforcement activity has been scattered throughout the metro area, and activists have begun organizing around the increased presence of officers in the area, as seen in recent weeks.
ICE officials were seen in a viral video performing an arrest in Grandview in mid-January, to which Grandview officials confirmed that their police department had been notified of operations. There were also dozens of vehicles that were marked with ICE emblems by a local company seen in a Northland parking lot.
Cook said the group had not heard back from Platform Ventures as of Monday morning and noted that comments opposing the sale were being removed from the company’s social media pages.
She said community members responding to the group’s call to action quickly filled voicemail inboxes, prompting organizers to redirect supporters to text messages.
“The idea is that if we can block this sale of the warehouse by Platform Ventures, then it opens up the door for this other company to buy it instead, thereby preventing the warehouse from being built,” Cook said.
City response
The facility has made headlines in recent weeks since an initial report from The Washington Post that disclosed Kansas City as a potential site for an ICE detention facility. ICE officials visited the site on Jan. 15, where local elected officials confirmed that the site was being sought for a possible detention center.
In response to the news, the Kansas City Council passed a five-year moratorium on permits and licenses for non-city detention facilities aimed at blocking any future ICE facilities in city limits. Mayor Quinton Lucas said that “ensures our focus stays on building businesses, homes, and schools, not large-scale detention centers.”
It’s unclear if that moratorium is enforceable, as some experts have told The Star, but Lucas said that they would use all available legal resources to enforce it if needed.
Platform Ventures released a statement on Jan. 16 that said negotiations were complete for the facility but did not specify if those were with the Department of Homeland Security or not.
Port KC was set to vote on whether they would terminate negotiations moving forward with Platform Ventures during their meeting Monday, Jan. 26. That meeting was set to take place virtually due to weather concerns, but was ultimately postponed due to technical difficulties.
The vote to terminate negotiations with Platform Ventures would not impact the facility if it proceeds forward with a detention center. Instead, the vote will remove any future sale of land to the company. It will now be held during a rescheduled meeting that has yet to be set.
This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
