OLATHE, Kan. — City leaders in Olathe have approved tax incentives to support the construction of a $152 million meat processing plant in the southern portion of the city. 

Tuesday the Olathe City Council voted 7-0 to approve issuing $257million in industrial revenue bonds (IRB) on behalf of 1918 LLC.

Dubbed ‘Project Sandhills’ the developer intends to create a 320,000 square foot beef processing and packaging facility on roughly 60 acres near the northwest corner of 167th St. and 169 Highway. The facility will not have live animals or animal harvesting on site. Instead, the facility would receive sub-primal pieces of meat to be cut and packaged to sell to area retailers.  

1918 LLC, a subsidiary of an undisclosed retailer, would take over production of Choice Beef cuts for the company’s stores in Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa,Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The bonds will be used to cover the cost of land aquisition, building construction, fixtures and equipment. In addition to the bonds, the council also approved a 10-year, 50% property tax phase-in. 

The proposed facility is expected to create approximately 667 new jobs over the next 10 years. According to city documents the average starting salary for both skilled and unskilled workers would be approximately $35,500 and starting salaries for management would be approximately $94,500. 

The property has not yet been annexed into the city. For the project to move forward the developer will need to request the land be annexed into the Olathe city boundary. The project will still need to go through the city planning commission and other reviews before construction can begin.