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Platform Ventures announced Thursday they have chosen “not to move forward” with the sale of a building in south Kansas City, Missouri, to the federal government.
Earlier this year, Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were seen touring a 900,000-square-foot warehouse near Missouri Highway 150 and Botts Road that was part of the former Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base.
At the time of the tour, Jackson County Legislative Chairman Manny Abarca claimed to speak with the agents who he said told him the facility could be used as an ICE detention facility.
At the time, Platform Ventures, which acquired the building from Port KC in 2022, said they received an unsolicited bid in October 2025 for the property. The Kansas City-based firm said it had a fiduciary duty to review the offer, but declined further comment.
Documents from Pork KC posted online in late January revealed ICE was interested in acquiring the property.
On Thursday, Platform Ventures said as those negotiations continued, it learned the buyer was the federal government.
“Platform Ventures is not actively engaged with the U.S. Government or any other prospective purchaser involving a sale of its property at the I-49 Industrial Center. While typically we do not comment on potential transactions, baseless speculation, inaccurate narratives and serious threats toward our leadership, our employees and our families have prompted us to issue this statement."
“As we stated previously, we were approached by a third-party private enterprise for this transaction and entered into preliminary negotiations consistent with the fiduciary duties owed to our investors. As negotiations concluded, we learned the purchasing party was the U.S. Government. Over the course of the building sale process, we determined that the terms no longer met our fiduciary requirements for a timely closing. Therefore, we chose not to move forward.”
Homeland security officials said in January that they did not have a new detention facility to announce at that time.
Thursday's announcement by Platform Ventures not to proceed with the sale is the latest of several apparent deals across the country that have been scuttled by local opposition.
On the same day as ICE agents were seen outside Platform Ventures' warehouse, the Kansas City, Missouri, City Council passed a five-year moratorium on non-municipal detention facilities in the city. Leaders in Jackson County and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, explored similar measures.
Mayor Quinton Lucas issued a statement Thursday morning saying he was aware of Platform Venture's release.
"While Kansas City welcomes any news suggesting the halting of a planned conversion of a warehouse for goods and products into a human encampment, I will continue with our legislative and legal efforts to ensure no warehouse or similar facility in Kansas City or nearby is converted to a mass encampment warehouse of persons that is offensive to the dignity and human rights of those whom would be detained within it," Lucas said.
The location of the warehouse has long been within U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II's (D - 5th District, Missouri) district. On Wednesday, Cleaver and fellow Kansas City-area Congresswoman Rep. Sharice Davids (D - 3rd District, Kansas) sent letters to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for more information.
"During my years of public service, I have never been approached and stopped by random citizens on the streets, at events, and in the airport more than I have been about the ICE detention center reportedly headed to our community," Cleaver said in his letter.
Davids expressed similar concerns in her letter.
"I write to express deep concern and strong opposition to any plans to open and operate Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in the Kansas City metropolitan area," Davids wrote. "These actions - along with the rapid expansion of immigration detention facilities far beyond the border - are making communities less safe, diverting critical resources from local law enforcement, and undermining efforts to stop the flow of illicit drugs into the United States."
While the region's two Congressional Democrats are active in their opposition, U.S. Rep. Mark Alford (R - 4th District, Missouri) has expressed support to open an ICE detention center in Cass County, south of Kansas City.
Earlier this month, representatives from CoreCivic, received initial approval from the Leavenworth Planning Commission for a special use permit to convert its facility in Leavenworth into a 1,000-bed ICE detention facility. The measure still requires approval from the Leavenworth City Commission.
In its Thursday statement, officials with Platform Ventures spoke about its founding in Kansas City by owners "born and raised in Kansas City."
"They built it from the ground up over nearly two decades. Today, Platform Ventures' portfolio of companies proudly employs over 350 local employees - skilled tradespeople, union members, and other professions - who live and work in this community. The momentum in Kansas City is real, and we are proud to play a role in it. We remain focused on protecting and serving our investors' interests. And our commitment to Kansas City remains unchanged."
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