The Kansas City Chiefs have taken another step toward building their new headquarters and practice facility in Olathe, announcing that Kansas City-based engineering firm Burns & McDonnell will help oversee the $300 million project.

The team announced Thursday that Burns & McDonnell has been selected as the owner’s representative for the Chiefs’ new campus, which will be at College Boulevard and Ridgeview Road. The facility is expected to be open for the 2031 NFL season.

As the “owner’s representative,” Burns & McDonnell will work alongside sports development firm CAA ICON to manage the project from planning through construction.

According to the Chiefs, the firms will coordinate architects, engineers, contractors and consultants as well as provide oversight to help keep the project on schedule and within budget.

“We are extremely excited to have Burns & McDonnell join our project team as owner’s representative for our new practice facility and headquarters that we will be building in Olathe,” Chiefs Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Matt Kenny said in a news release.

“As a local, employee-owned firm with a track record of project success around the world, we know they have the right mix of local knowledge as well as global experience to help us navigate the upcoming design and construction phases of a truly unique year-round home for our football team and staff.”

Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is an employee-owned engineering, architecture and construction company.

Jon Wright, senior vice president and general manager of the company’s “Buildings Market” division, called the project an “exciting new chapter” for both the team and the Kansas City area.

“We are honored to partner with the Kansas City Chiefs on this transformational project,” Wright said. “As a Kansas City-based company, it is a privilege to help bring that vision to life by providing experienced project leadership from planning through construction.”

A look at the project’s history

The NFL team announced in December of 2025 that it would be moving to Kansas. The team is also building a $3 billion dome stadium in Wyandotte County.

This announcement is one of the first major decisions made about the project since Olathe approved local tax incentives earlier this year pledging certain local sales and hotel tax revenues generated within a defined “base revenue area.”

Those revenues would help repay STAR bonds issued by the Kansas Development Finance Authority that will fund the project.

Under the ordinance, the city pledges:

• Its 1% general sales tax not already committed to other uses, that is raised on the 165-acre site.
• Its share of county sales tax generated on the site.
• 7% of the city’s 9% transient guest tax on hotels within the area.

City officials emphasized the bonds would not be a debt obligation for Olathe and would be repaid only through new tax revenue generated within the 155-acre project area.

About two dozen Olathe residents spoke at the City Council meeting in February — most of them urging the council to vote against the ordinance, citing a lack of transparency in the project and arguing that the money could be better spent elsewhere.

“We get no benefits, as I see from this, except bragging rights,” Dianne Killian said at the meeting. “Bragging rights don’t feed people, and they don’t put roofs over people’s heads.”

In an interview with the Post earlier this year, Geoffrey Propheter, an economist and expert on sports facility financing at the University of Colorado, Denver, criticized the deal, sharing a similar sentiment.

“The political benefits to lawmakers approving this are photo ops, chances to rub shoulders with athletes,” he said. “There’s a legacy and ego-building component.”

Even so, City Council members spoke in favor of the project, saying it will be a great opportunity for Olathe and pointing to the limits of the ordinance.

“If the bonds don’t get paid off or something goes sideways, it is investor risk. We are not on the hook,” Councilmember Robyn Essex said. “I’m going to say that a couple more times — this is not taxpayer risk.”

The Chiefs said there will be more announcements about design and construction in the coming weeks.