Load plugin where base class exists in another project

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I'm having some trouble loading a plugin and decided to open an issue to see if it's even possible. I am creating package_B where i'm creating a class that implements a plugin base class that exists in package_A.

Also, somewhere in package_A, they call loader->createInstance(plugin_type). When plugin_type equals the plugin i've created in package_B, it fails saying the plugin doesn't exist. But when the plugin type is one of the plugins created/exported from package_A, it works just fine. I feel like maybe pluginlib isn't built to do what i'm trying to make it do. Thoughts?

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<package format="2">
<name>test</name>
<version>0.2.0</version>
<description>The test package</description>

<maintainer email="me@domain.com">Jordan Lack</maintainer>

<license>TODO</license>

<buildtool_depend>catkin</buildtool_depend>
<build_depend>cmake_modules</build_depend>
<depend>eigen</depend>
<depend>hardware_interface</depend>
<depend>roscpp</depend>
<depend>pluginlib</depend>
<depend>tinyxml</depend>
<depend>boost</depend>
<depend>transmission_interface</depend>

<export>
    <test plugin="${prefix}/plugins.xml" />
</export>
</package>

And here's my CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.3)
project(test)

find_package(catkin REQUIRED hmi_cmake hardware_interface roscpp cmake_modules pluginlib 
transmission_interface)

find_package(TinyXML REQUIRED)
find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
find_package(Eigen3 REQUIRED)

# check c++11 / c++0x
include(CheckCXXCompilerFlag)
check_cxx_compiler_flag("-std=c++0x" COMPILER_SUPPORTS_CXX0X)
if (COMPILER_SUPPORTS_CXX0X)
    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-std=c++0x")
else ()
    message(FATAL_ERROR "The compiler ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER} has no C++11 support. Please use a 
different C++ compiler.")
endif ()

catkin_package(
    INCLUDE_DIRS include
    LIBRARIES ${PROJECT_NAME}
    CATKIN_DEPENDS hardware_interface roscpp pluginlib transmission_interface
    DEPENDS TinyXML Boost Eigen3
)

include_directories(include ${catkin_INCLUDE_DIRS} ${TinyXML_INCLUDE_DIRS} ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS} 
${EIGEN3_INCLUDE_DIRS})

add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} src/sensor_parser.cpp src/transmission_interface_loader.cpp)
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} ${catkin_LIBRARIES} ${TinyXML_LIBRARIES} ${Boost_LIBRARIES})

install(DIRECTORY include/${PROJECT_NAME}/
    DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_INCLUDE_DESTINATION})

install(TARGETS ${PROJECT_NAME}
    ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
    LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
    RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_BIN_DESTINATION})

install(FILES plugins.xml
        DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_SHARE_DESTINATION})

add_library(test_plugins test/test_plugins.cpp)
target_link_libraries(test_plugins ${catkin_LIBRARIES} ${PROJECT_NAME})

install(TARGETS test_plugins
        ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
        LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_LIB_DESTINATION}
        RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CATKIN_PACKAGE_BIN_DESTINATION})

And finally my plugins.xml

    <library path="lib/libtest_plugins">
    <class type="test_namespace::TestActuatorPlugin" base_class_type="test_namespace::Actuator">
        <description>
            An actuator plugin for unit testing
        </description>
    </class>

    <class type="test_namespace::TestImuPlugin" base_class_type="test_namespace::Imu">
        <description>
            An imu plugin for unit testing
        </description>
    </class>
    <class type="test_namespace::TestForceTorquePlugin" base_class_type="test_namespace::ForceTorque">
        <description>
            A force/torque plugin for unit testing
        </description>
    </class>
    <!--This next plugin is the one that ros_control can't load-->
    <class type="test_namespace::MyRequisiteProvider" base_class_type="transmission_interface::RequisiteProvider">
        <description>
            A force/torque plugin for unit testing
        </description>
    </class>
</library>