Missouri offered double the incentives, but Urban Outfitters chose to build in Kansas
Kevin Hardy and Allison Kite, The Kansas City Star
Dec. 22—When Kansas City lost its bid to land a massive Urban Outfitters distribution center this summer, Mayor Quinton Lucas wrote to city staff, congratulating the negotiating team for holding the line when negotiating incentives with the company.
The mayor said the Port Authority of Kansas City, which led those talks, was determined to "not give away the farm," even with competition from other cities.
What was not publicly known at that time were details of the various incentive packages offered on opposite sides of the state line. In Kansas City, Port KC offered about $125 million in total incentives to lure the $400 million project.