Property Owner Will Not Sell Building Rumored As Possible ICE Facility After Woman Allegedly Tries To Set It Ablaze

A video caught a woman allegedly attempting to start a fire at a South Kansas City industrial property that was widely speculated to become an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.

The property, known as 49 Crossing near the I-49 corridor, became the focus of public backlash earlier this year after reports suggested its owner was in talks to transfer the building to federal control, KMBC reported. Activist pressure quickly framed the warehouse as a future ICE detention center, even as key details remained unclear.

A video shows a woman wearing a black top and jeans standing just outside the warehouse as she appears to splash gasoline onto part of the building’s exterior. Moments later, she lights the fuel, and flames quickly ignite along the outside wall.

After the incident, the Kansas City-based investment firm Platform Ventures announced it will not proceed with any transaction involving the U.S. government. The company said it is not currently negotiating with federal officials or any other buyer regarding the site.

Executives said that an outside private entity initially approached them about a potential acquisition and that they engaged in early discussions in line with obligations to investors. Once leadership learned the ultimate purchaser would be the federal government, they reassessed the arrangement and concluded the terms did not satisfy internal requirements for closing, according to the firm.

Platform Ventures reiterated it has no active deal with federal authorities after weeks of speculation tied the South Kansas City warehouse to a possible immigration detention plan. In a new statement, the Kansas City-based firm said it is not currently working with the U.S. government or any other buyer on a sale of its property.

“Platform Ventures is not actively engaged with the U.S. Government or any other prospective purchaser involving a sale of its property at the I-49 Industrial Center,” Platform Ventures said, as reported by KMBC.

“As we stated previously, we were approached by a third-party private enterprise for this transaction and entered into preliminary negotiations consistent with the fiduciary duties owed to our investors,” Platform Ventures said in its new statement. “As negotiations concluded, we learned the purchasing party was the U.S. Government. Over the course of the building sale process, we determined that the terms no longer met our fiduciary requirements for a timely closing. Therefore, we chose not to move forward.”

Democratic Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas doubled down on his opposition to any plan that would transform a South Kansas City warehouse into a large-scale immigration detention center.

“I am aware of a recent release from a Kansas City firm regarding a distribution facility in South Kansas City that has been rumored as a target for a mass ICE detention encampment of up to 10,000 persons. While Kansas City welcomes any news suggesting the halting of a planned conversion of a warehouse for goods and products into a human encampment,” Lucas said in a statement. “I will continue with our legislative, legal efforts, and community engagement to ensure no warehouse or similar facility in Kansas City or nearby is converted to a mass encampment warehouse of persons that is offensive to the dignity and human rights of those who would be detained within it.”