The Marine Corps is staying in Kansas City, preserving more than 400 high-paying civilian jobs for at least the next 30 years. Kansas City beat out New Orleans for the long-term offices of the Marine Corps information technology center. The Marines’ decision extends its commitment to Kansas City well beyond its current lease that expires in 2017.
The 250,000-square-foot center on Bannister Road now houses hundreds of software developers and information technology professionals who support Marine Corps computer functions worldwide. The total workforce is about 450 people, with 35 of them being uniformed Marines, the rest civilians.
The Marines had recently signed a five-year extension to its current lease, keeping it as a tenant through 2017. The Corps has now agreed to negotiate and sign a longer commitment.
New Orleans had made an aggressive bid to land the Marine Corps center for its Federal City redevelopment. The Marines had dedicated a Marine Forces Reserve headquarters there in 2011.
Kansas City’s chances of gaining the long-term commitment, however, increased with the September occupancy agreement that runs through 2017. McCaskill, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said she lobbied the Marine Corps commandant to keep the facility in Kansas City.
The adjoining Bannister Federal Complex, a former World War II defense plant, houses Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies. Honeywell is relocating that operation to a new complex at Missouri 150 and Botts Road.