Port KC cuts ties with Platform Ventures to signal objection to alleged ICE deal
Signaling disapproval for the prospect of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in a Kansas City warehouse, the Port Authority of Kansas City voted to formally cut off ties with a local firm connected to the building.
The news erupted last month after reports emerged that the federal government was eyeing a large, empty warehouse in a south Kansas City industrial park for an immigration detention center with thousands of beds.
Department of Homeland Security and ICE officers reportedly visited the 920,000 square-foot site at 14901 Botts Rd. in mid-January, which came as President Donald Trump’s administration continues to ramp up immigration enforcement nationwide.
The site was developed by Platform Ventures, a Kansas City-based investment firm that’s become a major player in the area’s real estate and development scene over the past decade.
Hoping to attract jobs and reduce blight at a former Air Force base while raising tax revenues, Port KC granted tax breaks and issued $80 million in bonds to support the project in 2022. The warehouse was finished in 2023.
The agency owns additional acreage in the area, and Platform Ventures had expressed interest in buying about 305 more acres from Port KC for further industrial development.
But during negotiations, according to Port KC documents, the agency learned that Platform Ventures “intends to sell” the existing warehouse to the federal government for an ICE detention facility.
Platform Ventures said in a statement last month that “negotiations are complete” after the firm was approached with an “unsolicited offer” in October 2025. ICE said in late January that there were no new detention facilities to announce.
Jackson County records do not yet appear to show a sale. The Beacon reported last week that Platform Ventures asked the agency to begin the process of transferring the title on Jan. 2, and Port KC has 90 days to do so. If the property is sold to the federal government, it would be expected to come off the tax rolls entirely.
Port KC has reiterated over the past month that it’s not the agency’s warehouse to sell and that it has limited ability to stop a sale.
But it can cut off further negotiations with Platform Ventures to sell more land to the firm, which Port KC’s Board of Commissioners voted to do on Monday.
“As we have stated very clearly, our position is the buildings that were approved for manufacturing and advanced logistics jobs in a site that is designed for manufacturing and logistics jobs, and an area that has been very successful in those, should not be utilized for any other purpose, including the purpose that has been stated and has been publicly reported,” Jon Stephens, president and CEO of Port KC, said Monday.
The agency’s decision to cut off negotiations relates to the sale of more property in the area and would not directly stop a sale of the existing warehouse.
“Our specific focus there is Port KC is doing what we can to impress upon the owners and any potential sale that we are doing everything we can to discourage and disallow the transfer or sale of that property,” he said.
Stephens said the overarching project to remake the area into an industrial park to create jobs has been very successful, and the rumored new use could have a chilling effect on existing and future business.
According to emails The Star obtained from a board member after submitting a public records request, plans for Platform to buy additional land in the area reached substantial form late last year and were expected to soon come before the board.
But those plans came to an abrupt end in mid-January as Port KC learned of Platform’s intention with the existing warehouse, according to the emails. Port KC immediately suspended discussions with Platform about selling more property to the company.
The board resolution on Monday further signals Port KC’s opposition to a possible ICE facility in a public way.
Meanwhile, the City Council has passed a moratorium on allowing any non-municipal detention centers for the next five years. That could present a looming legal battle for the city if the federal government does move forward with such plans.
“This is something I’m not pretending that it wouldn’t end up in federal district court. I imagine it could end up in federal court,” Mayor Quinton Lucas told KCUR last week. “We welcome that type of review because, frankly, I think that this is worth standing against, and if we get to be the example of an American city doing it, and if we have to fight it for years, I’m willing to do that.”
This story was originally published February 9, 2026 at 5:17 PM.
