KANSAS CITY- McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., one of the nation's largest builders, just announced that they will open an office this May in Leawood, a suburb of Kansas City, to serve the clients they have accumulated across the region. McCarthy has more than $1.4 billion of construction underway in the area, including major healthcare projects and portions of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas, for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“My first project with McCarthy 27 years ago was in Kansas City, and I've always wanted to go back,” said McCarthy Central Division President Scott Wittkop in a prepared statement. “We have been planning for a Kansas City area office for some time. With several significant projects currently underway in the area, we feel that now is the right time to commit to a full service office with focus on our core markets of healthcare, education, science and technology and commercial construction.”

In March, GlobeSt.com reported that, in conjunction with Minneapolis-based Mortenson Construction, McCarthy had started work on an $80 million, 87,000-square-foot, central utility plant for the NBADF and should finish it in October of 2015. The company has also started work on the MARS Chocolate North America Project Sweetness, a $180 million, 550,000-square-foot, food-grade production and manufacturing facility in Topeka. Upon completion in 2014, the 150-acre site will have seven structures, including production, administration, central utilities, rail buildings, a guard house and a wastewater treatment plant.