KANSAS CITY, MO. — The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has finalized a deal for the relocation of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) National Security Campus. The facility, which manufactures nonnuclear components for nuclear weapons, will move from the Bannister Federal Complex in Kansas City to a site 8 miles down the road at the northeast corner of Missouri Highway 150 and Botts Road.
The new National Security Campus will consist of five buildings containing 1.5 million square feet of space. The campus will provide manufacturing, laboratory, office and warehouse space. It is also being designed for LEED-Gold certification. The groundbreaking is expected to occur in August. A phased move-in will begin in 2012, with all of the facility's 2,500 workers expected to be moved by 2014. The project's developer is CenterPoint Zimmer, a subsidiary of Oak Brook, Ill.-based CenterPoint Property Trust. The design/build team also includes general contractor JE Dunn Construction of Kansas City, local architecture firm HNTB and Toledo, Ohio-based architecture and construction management firm SSOE. Zimmer Real Estate Services of Kansas City will serve as property manager upon completion.
“This milestone is a significant step in transforming an outdated, Cold War-era nuclear weapons complex into a 21st century Nuclear Security Enterprise that is positioned to achieve the vision articulated in the recently released Nuclear Posture Review,” said Tom D'Agostino, NNSA Administrator, in a statement. Bannister Federal Complex was constructed in 1942. The facility had been used by several government tenants over the years, most of which have since moved to other facilities. Environmental concerns also necessitated the need for a move and actually delayed the process will the existing complex was being remediated.
“This new Kansas City facility, which we expect will save the government $100 million a year, is also an important example of our commitment to being a good steward of the taxpayers' money and a good partner with our neighbors in south Kansas City,” D'Agostino added.
The new National Security Campus is owned by the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority of Kansas City, which enlisted CenterPoint to develop it. CenterPoint is, in turn, leasing the facility to the GSA for a 20-year term. The annual rent will be approximately $61.55 million, bringing the value of the lease to approximately $1.23 billion. When the value of the lease is added to the projected construction cost, the deal is valued at $4.76 billion.
In addition, Baltimore-based CGA Capital Corp. has closed $687 million in construction financing for the deal. The financing was procured by way of a private placement of bonds through a venture with a privately held securities firm. The CGA team of W. Kyle Gore, RIchard Jacobs and Duncan Swanston arranged the deal with assistance from Bostonia Global Securities. Law firm Ballard Spahr provided legal assistance.
— Coleman Wood