Developer Begins Study on Remediation of Former KC Plant Home
NS&D Monitor
11/14/2014
Work to disposition the National Nuclear Security Administration’s former home at the Bannister Federal Complex in Kansas City began this week as developer CenterPoint Properties Trust started an extensive site analysis and environmental review of the World War II era facility. CenterPoint teamed with Zimmer Real Estate Services to build a new home for the NNSA’s Kansas City Plant, dubbed the Kansas City National Security Campus, and it was picked in 2012 to help disposition the plant’s former home.
As part of an 18-month study, CenterPoint will perform a site assessment and develop a plan for demolishing obsolete facilities and restoring the property for reuse. “This is a significant next step in fulfilling the disposition policy set forth in NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz’s recent report to Congress,” Kansas City Field Office Manager Mark Holecek said in a statement. “The public-private partnership with CenterPoint is the most efficient and effective path forward as we work together to redevelop the Bannister Federal Complex in an environmentally responsible manner and return it to productive use for the citizens of Kansas City.”
Pricetag for Effort Estimated at $175 Million
In a September report to Congress, NNSA said CenterPoint estimates that it will take 24 to 36 months and approximately $153 million to demolish and environmentally restore the site as part of a plan that will be tailored to future users. Another $22 million is needed to complete an independent analysis of the site to confirm the estimate, which includes 70 percent “guaranteed maximum costs” and 30 percent estimated costs that need to be validated. A deal with CenterPoint won’t be completed until the analysis is done, the NNSA said. The agency also has budgeted for another $75 million in potential additional scope.
The NNSA said the CenterPoint deal is cheaper than alternatives examined by the government, which included a $701 million estimate for DOE/NNSA stewardship of an environmentally remediated “brownfield” site. “DOE/NNSA and GSA are committed to the successful transfer of the BFC [Bannister Federal Complex] in a safe, economically beneficial, and environmentally responsible manner,” NNSA said. The CenterPoint plan “represents the best opportunity to achieve the project’s goals. To achieve the potential cost savings in tailoring demolition and remediation operations to planned reuse operations, it is essential that the party responsible for redevelopment be allowed to develop these plans.”
