Burns & McDonnell Announces Expansion

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

Burns & McDonnell is expecting to add 1,000 jobs, including 500 in Kansas City, within three years. The engineering and architecture services company currently has over 3,000 employees nationwide, and 2,150 are Kansas City based.

In order to accommodate the new employees the firm is extending and expanding by 12,000 square feet its lease at the 145,000 square-foot office building at 9201 State Line Road, the Kansas City Business Journal reports. A little over a year ago the firm agreed to a 15-year lease extension and agreement that will accommodate over 2,000 employees in the headquarters complex at 9300/9400 Ward Parkway. The 9300 wing of the complex is currently being renovated and upon completion the 217,000 square-foot building will receive more than 500 employees from the office building at 10450 Holmes Road.

The company reports the $25 million renovation of its Ward Parkway Campus includes a total tear-out and rebuild of the 9300 wing. In addition Burns & McDonnell is building a new 9,000-square-foot, 450-seat auditorium and conference center. The headquarters will also feature a wellness and fitness center as well as an expanded food service facility.

In other news, Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences will move from Ward Parkway to Westport, the Kansas City Business Journal reports. The new 39,000 square-foot facility was acquired from Associated Wholesale Grocers and will feature high-tech simulation centers and laboratories. The college president, Dean Hubbard, said he is expecting the enrollment of students in the bachelor’s of science in nursing program to double next year.