City economic developer outlines 2025 gains, housing activity and data-center interest

The city’s economic developer told the Mexico City Council on Jan. 26 that the city recorded 26 new businesses in 2025 and 20 new single-family housing permits, and urged the council to consider whether to pursue data-center recruitment.

"In 2025 new businesses, we had 26 new business[s]," the economic developer said, adding that 11 of the 26 were brick-and-mortar operations, six were home-based (including food trucks) and five were in personal-care services. The developer also said the city issued 20 new single-family permits last year; eight of those permits were tied to the city’s Housing Incentive Program (HIP) and three resulted from the demolition program.

The presentation highlighted employer and site activity. The developer said Western Smokehouse currently employs about 120 people and "they're going to ramp up again in April 2026 and hire another 40 to 50" as part of a planned expansion. Staff are marketing several large vacant buildings (including former Home Depot properties) to site selectors and reported interest from out-of-area real estate and industry partners.

Council members pressed staff on practical steps. A councilmember asked whether the city lists vacant buildings on national platforms; staff said local realtors have listings and that the city will follow up to ensure large properties are publicly marketed. Staff also cited recent examples from other towns where old school buildings were converted to senior housing as a reuse option.

The developer introduced data centers as a possible recruitment focus but warned the council of infrastructure limits. "Data centers ... require a lot of power," the developer said, noting utilities told staff it could take two to five years to secure transformers and other upgrades needed to support large power draws. The presentation noted the difference between smaller facilities that create modest employment and very large facilities (described at the meeting as gigawatt-scale projects) that bring major investment but also significant grid demands.

The developer said staff will continue to pursue leads and follow up with state partners and utility companies; the developer agreed to provide the source for a statistical comparison cited during the presentation that links rural job changes to metro-area impacts. Councilmembers asked for additional details on potential tax benefits and how recruitment would affect local housing and services.

Next steps: staff said they will continue outreach with the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the Missouri Partnership and local realtors, and will return with more detailed recommendations if the council directs further recruitment efforts.