NorthPoint, RACER Trust Close Sale in Kansas City, KS; Development Projects Will Create Up to 2,000 New Jobs

KANSAS CITY, KS (09/30/2013)(readMedia)-- NorthPoint Development and the RACER Trust announced today that the two parties have closed on an 80-acre land sale in Kansas City's Fairfax Industrial District. NorthPoint will begin preparing the brownfield property for development, and expects to begin construction of the roads, infrastructure and the first manufacturing facility in the Central Industrial Park in early October.

"This is a tremendous project for NorthPoint Development and the greater Kansas City area," said Chad Meyer, the company's President and COO. "We're very grateful to have this opportunity and look forward to building the kind of high-value, high-quality development that is NorthPoint's trademark. I thank the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City and the RACER Trust for their support, our brokerage team of Mark Fountain and Nick Tinnell at Jones Lang LaSalle and especially our investment partners for sharing our vision and believing in what this property will become."

The Central Industrial Park is designed to accommodate three to eight manufacturing businesses. NorthPoint has committed to build up to 1 million square feet of space, which could accommodate up to 2,000 jobs by the time the project is complete in 5 to 7 years.

"This venture is indicative of the private sector's confidence in Kansas City, KS, and all of Wyandotte County as a great place to invest and grow," said Mark R. Holland, Mayor/CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, KS. "NorthPoint has a well-earned reputation for ambitious, high-quality results, and I look forward to welcoming the new businesses and families that this project will bring to our community."

The property, site of a former General Motors auto assembly plant, had been vacant since 1987.

"We congratulate Chad and his team and wish NorthPoint and the community continued success," said Elliott P. Laws, administrative trustee of the RACER Trust. "NorthPoint presented a compelling plan for a very robust reuse of this property, one that we expect will make a strong and positive economic impact well into the future."

Under a development agreement with the Unified Government, NorthPoint must hit infrastructure investment and aboveground construction thresholds before accessing local tax incentives. By investing an estimated $40 million in private capital, NorthPoint is ensuring the community does not have to provide funding for local infrastructure improvements, such as to roads, water and utility lines, to service the property.

About NorthPoint Development: NorthPoint Development began as the management arm of Briarcliff Development, successfully leasing some of Kansas City's most prestigious Class A office space in the Briarcliff Village neighborhood. In 2012, CEO Nathaniel Hagedorn formed NorthPoint Development as an independent company, bringing several of his business associates and investors to leverage their years of experience in service of a new vision. NorthPoint Development seeks to bring new, innovative commercial developments to the greater Kansas City Metro area and grow with their strong client and investor relationships nationally. For more information, please visit our website: http://beyondthecontract.com.

About the RACER Trust: The RACER (Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response) Trust was created to clean up and position for redevelopment properties and other facilities owned by the former General Motors Corp. before its 2009 bankruptcy. RACER is one of the largest holders of industrial property in the United States and is the largest environmental response and remediation trust in U.S. history. When the Trust was formed, it owned properties at 89 locations in 14 states, principally in the Midwest and Northeast. The Trust, which is independent, was created by a settlement agreement in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court between the U.S. Government, the 14 states where the former GM properties are located, and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, which owns land adjoining one of the properties in Upstate New York. For more information, please visit our website: www.racertrust.org.