The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has selected Chicago-based CenterPoint Properties as the master developer of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) new complex in Kansas City, Missouri.
CenterPoint has teamed with Kansas City-based Zimmer Real Estate Services as owner and developer of the 1.5
million square-foot development which will be located on a 186-acre site just north of Missouri Hwy 150 at Botts Road.
Joining the CenterPoint-Zimmer team are J.E. Dunn Construction Company, one of the largest general building contractors in
the nation, and HNTB, one of the country’s most respected architecture firms. The HNTB team includes specialty design firms
Pro2Serve, Johnson Controls and SSOE. The execution of the NNSA’s vital strategic mission will be enhanced by the new plant.
It will be smaller and more flexible than the existing facility on Bannister Road a few miles north. The new facility will
employ approximately 2,100 local workers and provide around 1,500 hundred jobs during construction. The project will be a LEED® Gold Rated "Green" campus.
"We understand the importance of retaining this major community asset in Kansas City, MO and we pledge to develop a
LEED Gold campus that will provide a safe, secure, flexible and productive work environment to serve as a national model of performance
for the NNSA and the GSA," said Michael Murphy, Executive Vice President of Development at CenterPoint. "The CenterPoint-Zimmer
team is excited to be selected and we are looking forward to the next phase of this process."
The newly formed venture, CenterPoint-Zimmer LLC, is commencing development activities immediately. The existing team also includes
leading firms HNTB and J.E. Dunn, who possess exceptional experience in project design, construction and lease-backed financing.
A critical next step in the process will be the finalization of the financial structure with the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority
(PIEA), who will technically own the facility and lease it to CenterPoint who, in turn, will sublease it to the GSA.
The NNSA has provided 120 days from the date of the selection announcement for the CenterPoint-Zimmer team to coordinate these
activities with the PIEA and then to complete its funding of the project. The CenterPoint-Zimmer proposal is contingent on the ability
to successfully issue project bonds backed by the NNSA sublease. To the extent the capital markets continue to cooperate, the CenterPoint-Zimmer
team expects a final funding simultaneous with the completion of its definitive agreement with the PIEA and execution of lease documents with the GSA and NNSA.
CenterPoint is currently developing the 1,340-acre CenterPoint Intermodal Center – Kansas City industrial park immediately south of the
NNSA plant site – an investment that will exceed $300 million. This integrated intermodal-industrial park is anchored by the 370-acre Kansas City
Southern Intermodal Center. It will feature up to five million square feet of facilities for manufacturing, warehousing and distribution.
"We are committed to Kansas City and, through our inland port development and infrastructure experience, have developed a deep understanding of
the local market," said Jim Cross, Senior Vice President of Development at CenterPoint. "Our team is confident that we have the construction,
technical, and financial expertise to successfully execute a project of this scale and deliver a premier facility to the NNSA."
About CenterPoint Properties
Established in 1984, Chicago-based CenterPoint Properties is nationally focused on the development, ownership and management of industrial real
estate and related rail, road and port infrastructure. Currently, the company owns and manages more than 27.8 million square feet of warehouse
and industrial real estate and is developing +9,000 acres in intermodal rail and port markets along strategic trade lanes in North America.
Publicly traded since 1993, CenterPoint was acquired in 2006 by CalEast Global Logistics, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the California Public
Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest United States pension fund.
About Zimmer Real Estate Services
Kansas City-based Zimmer Real Estate Services has been one of Kansas City’s leading commercial real estate firms since its founding in 1948.
It has been responsible for projects throughout the Metropolitan Kansas City area such as AirWorld Center, Lenexa Industrial Park, Southlake Technology Park
and Rollins Meadows Office Park, as well as acting as Owner’s Representative in such projects as the Sprint Headquarters Campus, Village West,
Crown Center buildings 2301 McGee and 2600 Grand, and the new Federal Reserve Bank building in Kansas City. Zimmer is also working with CenterPoint in
the leasing of the CenterPoint Intermodal Center – Kansas City.
"We are delighted to be teaming with CenterPoint in this most important project, which will be one of the largest industrial development projects ever to occur in Kansas City, and which will retain a very important job base for
our City.", said Hugh J. Zimmer, Chairman of the Zimmer firm.