Feature profiles

Straub Construction celebrates 100 years building KC communities

Straub Construction is celebrating 100 years as a Kansas City community cornerstone this week while simultaneously unveiling a new company brand in honor of its centennial anniversary.

The rebranded identity and tagline - Believe in What You Build - is an appropriate reflection of Straub’s devoted partnerships and decades over decades of building a long-standing, successful construction firm.

“Our new brand reflects our focus on building communities. As a building leader who advocates for a healthier, more fulfilled community, we focus on creating partnerships with purpose-driven clients who share our vision to serve others,” said Ernie Straub III, chairman & CEO.

Ernest J. Straub, Sr. began the journey in 1920 building churches, schools and homes in the Mission Hills, Kan. area. One hundred years later, Straub Construction continues to carry on his legacy of building Kansas City communities through structures that serve others.

Impactful community projects, such as the revitalization of the Crossroads Art District neighborhood’s Corrigan Station and The Creamery Building; new Science City exhibits in Union Station; the Edgar Berkley residence, the residence of Henry Sophian and the remodel of the Stover Mansion, a beloved Mission Hills landmark, are just a few included in the firm's impressive portfolio.

“We measure our success by the lives we impact, not revenue. By 2028, we’ll impact at least 120,000 families weekly with the structures we’ve built, and we’re hoping to grow that number," said Dan VanDonge, vice president of operations for Straub.

Straub’s legacy continues to date; with current and recently completed construction projects such as the Avila Goppert Performing Arts Center, Park University Plaster Center, Ft. Leavenworth Transient Barracks and the St. Elizabeth Catholic School & Parish.

“We advocate for our clients at every step in the construction process; not because it earns more dollars, but because it drives this larger purpose forward,” said Parker Young, Straub president.

Headquartered in Shawnee, Kan., Straub Construction also has an office in the Crossroads Arts District in Kansas City, Mo.

Centric partners persevere, celebrate a decade building KC

Centric partners Richard Wetzel and Steve Swanson, two design and construction veterans, are no strangers to persevering through a tough economy. This week is no exception, as they celebrate a decade of success in Kansas City.

In June 2010, the unemployment rate in the United States was 9.4% and the construction industry was experiencing the worst month for spending since the beginning of the downturn in 2008.

The duo recognized a need for a more nimble, agile and flexible company in an industry not known for innovation. Powered by a strong, entrepreneurial spirit, Centric was launched on June 4, 2010.

The start-up, bootstrap nature of the company paved the way for pioneering the use of cloud-computing systems, the development of open-office concepts and the involvement in the arts community.

In the past 10 years Centric has completed 828 projects totaling $618 million, ranging in size from a few hundred dollars to over $35 million. Their body of work includes workplace, retail, multifamily, healthcare, hospitality, industrial, senior living, institutional and - more recently, features custom single-family homes. The company currently employs 158 associates who work remotely on job sites or from its home in the Crossroads Arts District where it has headquartered since its founding.

“We’re proud to have been involved in many important projects integral in sustaining the momentum of development in Kansas City, but perhaps the most important body of work we have been awarded is along the Troost Avenue corridor,” said Wetzel.

“With a history of racism, redlining, and segregation, this area has long been a symbol of division in Kansas City, but is now a hotspot for development. We are excited to be part of this sea of change and look forward to seeing that divide permanently mended.”

Centric is currently involved in over $100 million of work in the corridor from 27th Street to 65th Street, including multifamily, institutional, office and retail developments.

Other notable Centric projects include a nine-story addition to the Ambassador Hotel, the apartments at 3435 Main Street, the luxury apartment building at 1914 Main Street (the first new construction project along the KC Streetcar), and eight Spira Care clinics. Among their most memorable, includes lifting a post-war DC-3, used in the Berlin airlift, onto the roof of the Roasterie Café in Kansas City’s westside.

“While we are going through a truly unprecedented time both in our community and worldwide, we remain optimistic about the future growth and development of our city and look forward to its next decade. Kansas City is our home, and we will continue to strive to make it a cooler place to live, work and play, by building stories from the ground up," Swanson said.

Design group keeps the Pulse on positivity during uncertain times

Pulse Design Group employees occasionally work from home, so the transition was somewhat seamless from a technology standpoint.

“The hard part is the human connection disruption, and we are only one week into the stay at home ordinance. Our team relies so heavily on one another for collaboration and social interaction. The Pulse family is just that – a family,” said Rick Embers, Pulse Design Group managing partner.

“Design is a collaborative process, and our open office environment supports and fosters that need. This pandemic changed the normal business landscape, so we changed with it,” said Embers.

“Communication and employee engagement are so important, especially in these uncertain times, so we quickly implemented various platforms for employees to stay in touch and connect, and the outcome has been awesome,” said Mary Moore, associate principal.

“Weekly all-company ‘Pulse Peeps’ meetings are occurring through Microsoft Teams, employees are sharing pictures of their home offices, communicating through group chats and having virtual happy hours,” said Moore.

Pulse leadership is sharing additional resources including remote workouts, free financial consulting services, and work from home tips and tricks to keep everyone engaged.

“Staying upbeat and positive is extremely critical” said Embers, while wearing a frizzy wig and colored sunglasses during an internal video conference call.

“Healthcare design is our sole focus and the industry is always evolving. We are used to adapting quickly, just not in this manner, but we are making the best of it.

Our workload remains steady, projects are on schedule, and new work has resulted as our clients respond to this pandemic.

We recently helped The University of Kansas Health System convert an ambulance garage and modify the existing specialty chemistry lab at Bell Hospital into a COVID-19 testing facility. We are doing our part to help the cause,” said Embers.

“This is an interesting and scary time, but there are so many silver linings. Hospitals are responding quickly to treat patients, labs are preparing test kits and vaccinations, community partners are coming together to offer support, people are volunteering, companies are offering goods and services at reduced rates, and people are smiling and genuinely happy to see one another (from a safe distance of course).

Hardship makes you see the world through a different lens. The smallest kind gestures mean so much. You really appreciate the importance of leadership, friendship, camaraderie, family, coworkers and develop a strong sense of community” said Dennis Burns, president of Pulse Design Group.

"Pulse Design Group is proud to support our healthcare clients and community as we navigate this new norm. Thank you to all doctors, nurses, and staff for your continued efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic," Moore said.

HOK's healthy focus five years post merger

It's been five years since 360 joined HOK in an effort to expand and diversify their markets and talented staff.

"There was a lot of interest in expanding our presence in Kansas City into new markets that HOK already had an established presence in including healthcare, aviation, science and technology and justice," said Chris DeVolder, managing partner with HOK who came from 360 with the acquisition.

Since the acquisition, the healthcare market has proved to be an opportunity for growth and expansion for the firm’s Kansas City office. Both nationally and locally, there's a huge emphasis on bringing in the wellness side - meditation, yoga - into healthcare facilities to treat the well, not just the sick.

"The healthcare market has really grown here because of strategic leadership, a significant amount of healthcare construction in the region and synergies with so many other markets. We continue to find natural synergies between our markets, from workplace to sports projects, there is a natural synergy, said DeVolder.

In addition to healthcare-specific spaces, HOK is seeing healthcare influence in almost every one of their markets.

With 24 offices worldwide, including 15 in the U.S., HOK feels fortunate to have so many resources to tap into.

“The great thing about HOK is because we have an extensive network of healthcare designers, planners and consultants, coupled with industry leaders in every one of our other markets, we can create the most innovative projects by learning from what others in the firm are doing and collaborating with other market sector leaders to deliver the best solutions for our clients,” said Erin Nybo, healthcare practice leader with HOK.

One example of that crossover taking place is within their Sports + Recreation + Entertainment sector. By working closely with healthcare leaders within the firm, they are delivering some of the most advanced spaces for high-performance training and recovery.

The new Hybl Center at University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, for example, brings together academics, clinical practice and training under one roof to facilitate scientific discovery between students, professors, researchers, clinicians, student-athletes and first responders.

"The great news is we are seeing these integrated, advanced approaches to healthcare happening not just on the coasts – they are happening right here," Nybo said.

HOK’s Kansas City office also taps into their internal healthcare group made up of 150 experts – including current and former practitioners, architects, interior designers and their chief medical officer, all with world-leading expertise on topics like pediatrics, oncology, infection control, hospital design, medical office buildings and outpatient care etc., to provide additional and timely insight.

The HOK healthcare consulting group, a small sub-section of the broader practice, uses patient and physician data with regional market data to build robust master plans, for example.

“We have a really high track record of master plans being implemented because of this unique, data-driven approach to design," Nybo said.

The HOK Kansas City and St. Louis offices collaborate often on projects as well. The St. Louis team is leading the design and collaborating with team members in Kansas City for construction administration on the new UMKC Engineering Building.

Healthcare projects in Kansas City include a Stormont-Vail Medical Office Building with a medical spa and The Children’s Place renovation and a partnership project with Truman Medical Center and the YMCA that includes 12 exam rooms with a holistic approach to health and wellness.

Current non-healthcare projects in Kansas City include Lightwell, American Century Investments, Waddell & Reed and Kiewit.

Current HOK projects in St. Louis include a new MLS Soccer Stadium, continued projects within the Cortex Innovation Community and Boeing NeXt’s space.

Over the next five years HOK sees the healthcare market continuing to evolve and grow and plans to enter and grow their presence in the Science + Technology market, which includes higher education buildings and labs.

"We're looking forward to designing with health and wellness in mind on all projects, continuing to work with local healthcare clients and expanding into emerging markets where we can best serve our clients," Nybo said.

They also plan to expand their existing sustainability studio as one of the firm’s three hubs globally for sustainable design. 

"We are going to continue our focus on creating healthy buildings for healthy bodies,'" DeVoder said.

Four join forces to launch Elevate Property Advisors

Four successful real estate professionals have joined forces to launch a new commercial brokerage company, Elevate Property Advisors.

The owners include Jeff Berg, Coleby Henzlik, Doug Henzlik and Jonny Lefko, who plan to leverage their 70-plus years of collective transactional experience to provide unparalleled market knowledge and service to commercial property owners, tenants and buyers throughout the midwest.

"Each of us worked together so well in various combinations, on a project-by-project basis. We thought that bringing everybody together on a day-in and day-out basis would be very rewarding," Berg said.

Berg and Doug Henzlik have developed and built several projects together over the past five years and just prior to the new venture, Henzlik added Berg on as a partner of his firm, Henzlik Real Estate Companies.

Berg brings more than 30 years of experience in acquiring, developing and marketing properties, and has worked with many of the nation’s top retailers to execute their market development and expansion plans.

Berg and Coleby Henzlik teamed on many tenant and landlord representation clients while working together at Colliers International. Lefko, who previously worked with Greenstone Partners as an investment sales specialist, has experience selling properties owned by Berg and Doug Henzlik.

"Through these projects, we found that we enjoyed working together, and our skill sets complimented each other. We thought it would provide a very dynamic synergy to formalize these working relationships with our own company," Berg said.

Coleby Henzlik has leased and sold some of the most notable retail projects in the Kansas City metro and will continue to represent class-leading retail buyers and tenants throughout the region.

Lefko will focus on the sale of investment properties, and has consummated more than $100 million in transactions over the last two years.

Elevate and Henzlik Real Estate will remain separate entities, but with shared projects and infrastructure ​to provide transactional and consulting services for leading retailers, as well as third-party commercial property owners and investors.

Henzlik Real Estate Companies will continue its core focus on investing in and developing commercial projects throughout the Midwest. In addition to its history of retail-focused land development and built-to-suit activities, the company has expanded into multi-family and mixed-use projects.

Elevate will be moving into their new building at 7121 W. 79th St. in Overland Park, Ks. this spring.