Manufacturer confirms plans for new-build plant in south KC

ALPLA Inc. North America plans a groundbreaking for a 246,000-square-foot building in south Kansas City to house an injection-molding manufacturing plant that will deliver about 75 new jobs.

The division of Austria-based ALPLA plans to locate in Blue River Commerce Center, which is being built by NorthPoint Development. Construction is scheduled to begin late this year and wrap up at the end of 2022, the company announced in a release. Cushman & Wakefield will lead the development at the site of the former Bannister Federal Complex, which saw an extensive environmental remediation effort conclude last year.

The company had been working with the Port Authority of Kansas City on issuing bonds for the building’s construction, as well as for a personal property exemption and sales tax exemption on construction materials, the Kansas City Business Journal reported last week. ALPLA produces plastic packaging, blow-molded bottles and caps, injection-molded parts, preforms and tubes.

Port KC officials said the company was attracted by adjacent rail access and the potential employee pool in the Center School District. ALPLA said in the release that it has funded “numerous STEM and STEAM-based labs and classes while encouraging high school students to build careers related to engineering.” ALPLA expects to hit its 75-job goal by the third year.

The building will represent ALPLA’s fourth in Missouri and its first focused on injection molding, the release states. The company has room to expand its footprint in Blue River Commerce Center.

ALPLA employs 21,600 people at 178 locations in 45 countries, according to its website. Its North America operations specialize in bottles and caps for the food, beverage, auto, health, beauty and home care industries.

Within Blue River Commerce Center, northeast of Bannister Road and Troost Avenue, NorthPoint is nearing completion on the park’s 241,000-square-foot first building, and its 438,000-square-foot second building remains under construction. The ALPLA facility will become the center’s third project. Fully built out, the park could house seven buildings over 225 acres totaling 2.59 million industrial square feet, capable of supporting 1,500 new jobs.
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ALPLA’s impending arrival continues a strong run for south Kansas City’s industrial market, which has seen 1.8 million square feet of total net absorption the past three months, as well as projects under construction growing from 8.2 million to 12.8 million square feet. That last figure should keep climbing through year’s end, according to a Newmark Zimmer report.