KANSAS CITY, MO-Burns & McDonnell, an engineering, architecture and construction firm, credits a wash of new projects for its plans announced Wednesday to hire more than 1,000 people by 2014, with half of those hires here in the city. The company recently agreed to renew its 145,000-square-foot lease at a satellite office, and will officially open its renovated, 500,000-square-foot headquarters in October.

A spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that the company, which had $1.1 billion in revenues last year, has been fortunate to land big projects, mostly in North America. He says the firm projects strong demand in large-scale infrastructure and capital improvements in public sectors and industries such as energy and technology.

The company has about 2,150 employees here in the city, with about 3,200 globally. The new hires will push the firm past the 4,000-employee mark, and will push the seams at space for the company. “We have been pretty conservative at real estate planning, and we were just at a point where we had to do something to accommodate the expected growth,” the spokesman says.

The company’s headquarters is a 500,000-square-foot complex as 9300 Ward Pkwy. The firm last year extended its lease for another 15 years in the building, owned by the James Campbell Family Trust. The tenant is spending $25 million on a renovation to the complex, which should be ready to hold about 2,000 employees when it opens in October.

In addition, the firm recently extended its lease of a satellite office at 9201 State Line Rd. for another eight years. Burns & McDonnell occupies the entire 145,000-square-foot building with its Aviation & Facilities and Healthcare & Research Facilities divisions. The company subleases the building from Swiss Re, which acquired the property when it took over the local operations of GE Insurance.

Instant Insights /

Burns & McDonnell Renews Offices, Plans 1,000 Hires

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