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All in all, it was a good year for regional growth.
PUBLISHED JANUARY 2026
Measured by sheer dollar value, 2025 was a year when Greater Kansas City’s economic story tilted decisively toward scale. Hyperscale data centers, once fringe projects, dominated the region’s deal ledger. At the same time, billion dollar real estate redevelopments, transformative corporate expansions and strategic acquisitions underscored a broader narrative: Kansas City is no longer merely competing for incremental growth, but positioning itself as a Midwestern platform for global capital, advanced manufacturing, digital infrastructure and talent-intensive services.
What follows is a consolidated narrative of the region’s most consequential business deals, transactions and projects announced or advanced in 2025, from multibillion-dollar commitments down to more modest—though still significant—deals.
For the region as a whole, aggregate data-center development stood out. At the very top of the 2025 ledger sits Project Kestrel, a proposed hyperscale data-center campus north of Kansas City International Airport. With a projected $100 billion total investment over multiple phases, the 379 acre development announced by Port KC dwarfs every other deal on the region’s radar. Envisioned as six massive data center buildings totaling roughly 1.8 million square feet, the campus is designed to support next generation cloud computing and artificial intelligence workloads, with commitments to carbon free energy and substantial long term tax revenue.
Even if only a fraction of the headline figure materializes in the next decade, the implications are profound. Projects of this magnitude anchor Kansas City in the national conversation around AI infrastructure, energy generation and grid resilience. They also intensify debates around power consumption, land use and workforce readiness—forcing local governments, utilities and training institutions to think at unprecedented scale.
Close behind is another hyperscale proposal in Wyandotte County: Red Wolf DCD Properties’ $12.6 billion data center park spanning approximately 550 acres west of the Kansas Speedway. Advanced by the Unified Government’s planning commission in April, the six-building complex would require an estimated 600 megawatts of power—an energy footprint comparable to that of a mid sized city. State sales tax exemptions for large projects underscore how aggressively Kansas is courting digital infrastructure investment, even as environmental and infrastructure concerns loom large.
The top tier of data deals includes Google’s Project Mica, a $10 billion data center campus approved by Port KC in July. Planned for 500 acres near I-435 and Highway 169 in the Northland, the project includes up to five data center buildings capable of supporting Google’s AI and cloud operations. While initial construction is budgeted closer to $1 billion, the long term commitment reinforces Kansas City’s growing reputation as a data center friendly market with ample land, central geography and improving fiber connectivity.
As the year was drawing to a close, a Dutch company that provides support systems for AI acquired land in the Eastgate Commerce Center for a $6.6 billion data center, a project expected to proceed in phases through at least 2029. Nebius Group’s site would be its second data center in Missouri. That operation could generate what city officials estimate at tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue within two years, with the city, school districts and Metropolitan Community College among the beneficiaries. The 400-acre site would comprise 10 buildings totaling 2.5 million square feet.
Together, these projects mark a structural shift. Data centers are no longer peripheral developments; they are now among the largest capital commitments in the region’s history, reshaping industrial land markets and redefining economic development strategies on both sides of the state line.
On the real-estate front, a number of deals are reimagining the urban core, exhibiting renewed confidence in large scale, mixed use real estate.
One of the most ambitious announcements came in November, when Gillon Property Group unveiled a $1.5 billion revitalization plan for the Country Club Plaza. The proposal envisions hundreds of new residential units, nearly 300 hotel rooms and expanded office and retail uses, with taller buildings strategically placed along the district’s periphery. More than a redevelopment plan, the Plaza initiative represents a test case for how Kansas City balances preservation of legacy districts with the density and vibrancy demanded by modern urban economics.
The Housing Authority of Kansas City hopes to extend that winning streak into residential real estate; in December it unveiled plans for the biggest affordable-housing program in the city’s history: a $2.6 billion proposal to build more than 7,000 affordable housing units. Organization leaders said the multi-year effort would draw on federal, state and local funding to transform all of the authority’s existing public housing properties into mixed-income communities, while increasing access to home ownership for lower-income families.
Along the Missouri River, momentum continued at Berkley Riverfront with the Kansas City Current anchored mixed use district, a $1 billion phased project led by Palmer Square and Marquee Development. Anchored by CPKC Stadium, the development includes hundreds of multifamily units, retail space and significant public amenities. Its importance lies not just in dollar value, but in how it extends downtown’s footprint northward, leveraging sports driven placemaking to catalyze private investment.
In Kansas City, Kan., tourism and entertainment took center stage with Vacation Village KCK, an $838 million mixed use destination featuring a Margaritaville resort, sports showcase facilities and interactive attractions.
The project underscores Wyandotte County’s continued push to diversify beyond retail heavy development near Village West toward experiential tourism with longer visitor stays and broader regional draw.
In October, the Leawood City Council approved rezoning for Hallbrook North, a $765 million mixed use development by VanTrust Real Estate. Envisioned as a potential future headquarters campus for Lockton Companies, the project includes nearly 1.5 million square feet of office space, residential units, a hotel and supporting retail. Its scale and suburban location reflect ongoing demand for high amenity corporate campuses designed to attract and retain professional talent in competitive labor markets.
Another major mixed use proposal emerged in August with Drake Development’s $416.2 million Oldham East project, anchored by a Costco and encompassing residential, retail and civic space across 120 acres. Projects like Oldham East illustrate how suburban mixed use developments continue to evolve, blending everyday retail anchors with housing and community infrastructure.
In Kansas City’s historic West Bottoms, SomeraRoad’s $526 million micro village redevelopment advanced through early phases. Spanning 22 acres and unfolding over a decade, the project aims to transform underutilized industrial land into a dense, walkable neighborhood. While smaller than some marquee deals, its long term significance lies in adaptive reuse and the reinvention of legacy districts.
The reinforcement of this region’s industrial base continued at a fast pace, as manufacturing expansions remained a cornerstone of the 2025 deal landscape. That charge is being led by Merck Animal Health’s planned $895 million expansion in De Soto. The investment includes both manufacturing capacity and research and development facilities, positioning the site as a global center of excellence for animal health biologics. Beyond the immediate construction and permanent jobs, the project reinforces the Kansas City region’s strength in life sciences and advanced manufacturing.
Nearby, the ongoing build out of Panasonic’s EV battery plant, representing more than $4 billion in cumulative investment, reached key milestones in 2025, including opening its first production line and onboarding the first cohorts of what will eventually be a work force of 4,000. While the project’s full economic impact will unfold over years, its presence has already catalyzed supplier interest and reinforced the region’s role in the electric vehicle supply chain.
In Olathe, Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling’s $400 plus million production campus officially opened, expanding bottling capacity and strengthening the region’s logistics and distribution profile. Together, these projects highlight a manufacturing sector that is modernizing rather than retreating, integrating automation, research and supply chain resilience.
Not all of the year’s biggest transactions were purely commercial. In January, the University of Kansas announced a $450 million fundraising goal for a new cancer center, aimed at consolidating services from multiple locations into a single, state of the art facility. While technically a philanthropic target rather than a market transaction, the initiative represents a major capital commitment with long term implications for health care delivery, research and talent attraction.
Similarly, in Wyandotte County, the $375 million American Royal campus moved forward again after financing adjustments. As a signature agricultural and events complex, the project blends cultural legacy with economic development, reinforcing the region’s ties to agribusiness while generating tourism and hospitality activity.
While real estate and infrastructure dominated by dollar value, several strategic business transactions reshaped key sectors.
On the financial-services front, no deal was bigger than UMB’s acquisition of Heartland Financial USA, a deal valued at $2 billion. It was the largest transaction in UMB’s history and a transformative step for both the company and the Kansas City region. The all-stock deal roughly increased UMB’s asset base into the $70 billion range, expanded its footprint from eight to 13 states, and elevated the bank into the top tier of U.S. regional banks by size. Strategically, the added scale strengthens UMB’s ability to compete with national institutions while preserving a relationship-driven, mid-market focus.
Regionally, the deal reinforces Kansas City’s standing as a financial-services hub, anchoring high-skill jobs, decision-making authority and corporate leadership locally. Combined with UMB’s multibillion-dollar community investment commitments, the acquisition signals long-term confidence in the region’s economic growth and institutional strength.
In January, Mariner Wealth Advisors’ acquisition of Cardinal vaulted the firm to the top of the region’s wealth management rankings by assets under management and administration. The deal, which more than tripled Mariner’s scale to north of $550 billion in combined assets under management or advisement, underscores Kansas City’s quiet but growing influence in financial services and advisory work—industries that rely less on physical footprint and more on professional talent.
Reflecting the vigorous consolidation froth within the wealth-management sector, it wasn’t long before Mariner’s biggest hometown competitor in that space, Creative Planning, stormed back to No. 1 with a mega deal of its own: Adding Sageview Advisory Group and its $250 billion in assets to the fold. That shot Creative Planning back to the top of the wealth-advisory firm list, managing assets that now top $640 billion.
In December, the Kansas City Council approved tax increment financing for a $484 million redevelopment along Grand Blvd at the north end of downtown. The plan combines new luxury apartments with the adaptive reuse of a historic hotel, reflecting continued confidence in downtown residential demand even amid shifting office dynamics.
These urban reinvestments, while smaller than the headline hyperscale projects, play an outsized role in shaping the city’s livability and long term competitiveness.
Taken together, the biggest transactions of 2025 reveal a region leaning into its strengths while redefining its ambitions. Hyperscale data centers have rewritten the upper end of the deal spectrum, forcing new conversations about energy capacity, infrastructure finance and sustainability. At the same time, billion-dollar real estate bets, advanced manufacturing expansions and strategic acquisitions point to a diversified economy willing to invest for the long term.
Perhaps most telling was the breadth of sectors represented: technology, life sciences, manufacturing, tourism, finance and higher education. Rather than a single dominant narrative, Kansas City’s 2025 deal activity reflects a complex, evolving economy—one increasingly comfortable operating at a scale once reserved for coastal markets, and increasingly confident in selling itself as a platform for global growth.
Several of 2025’s biggest transactions were accompanied by unusually direct commentary from civic and corporate leaders—language that underscored not just optimism, but the competitive stakes involved.
Announcing Google’s Project Mica, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas framed the deal as a turning point rather than a one-off win, noting that projects of this scale signal that Kansas City is “no longer just participating in the digital economy, but helping to build the infrastructure that supports it.” The emphasis on workforce training funds embedded in the agreement reflected a broader acknowledgment that data centers succeed—or fail—based on local talent pipelines.
Gov. Laura Kelly struck a similar note around manufacturing investments in Kansas. In unveiling Merck Animal Health’s De Soto expansion, she emphasized that the project was about more than jobs, calling it “a statement about Kansas’ role in global innovation, research and production.” Her remarks repeatedly tied advanced manufacturing wins to long-term investments in education, infrastructure and incentives designed to keep multinational firms anchored in the state.
Executives also leaned into the regional narrative. Leaders at Merck Animal Health described the De Soto facility as a global “center of excellence,” language that signaled confidence not only in the site, but in the Kansas City area’s ability to support complex biologics manufacturing at scale. Similarly, representatives tied to Panasonic’s EV battery plant highlighted the region’s central location and improving supplier ecosystem as critical to meeting automakers’ accelerating electrification timelines.
In real estate, tone mattered as much as numbers. Developers behind the Country Club Plaza revitalization stressed that the $1.5 billion plan was intended to “future-proof” the district—adding residential density and hospitality while preserving the Plaza’s architectural DNA. At Berkley Riverfront, KC Current leadership framed their mixed-use district as a model for how women’s sports investments can catalyze broader urban redevelopment, not simply standalone venues.
