The District at City Center seeks to fill void in Lenexa's office and retail market

Construction is officially underway for The District at City Center, a mixed-use project that brings additional luxury apartments, first-class retail and full-floor office space to the Lenexa City Center development area at 87th Street Parkway and Renner Boulevard.

The District will add 175 luxury residential apartments, 45,000 square feet of office and 35,000 square feet of retail to the already successful Domain apartments and the recently opened Lenexa City Hall and Civic Campus.

Designed to complement the existing 800,000 square feet of retail, office and recreational mixed uses at Lenexa City Center, The District will fill a unique void in the Lenexa office and retail submarket with full floor offices for 5,000 square foot tenants plus much-needed first class retail space, according to Keith Copaken of Copaken Brooks.

“We are well underway with the District and City Center, as well as Lenexa as a whole, and are really hitting on all cylinders right now,” Copaken said.  “I’m not sure you could find a more exciting and active area in the Kansas City metro area right now.”

The District is scheduled to open in March of 2019 and is being co-developed by longtime Kansas City office and retail developer Copaken Brooks and residential lifestyle development firm EPC Real Estate Group.

“EPC is thrilled to create another development that provides convenience, connectivity and community. The District is located in a prime location adjacent to restaurants, office, the Public Market, and the Lenexa Civic Center just to name a few. People love the ability to be a short walk or drive away from an experience,” said Brendon O’Leary, EPC Real Estate Group vice president of development.

At the District's groundbreaking on Tuesday, Copaken thanked the City of Lenexa for serving as a valued partner: “None of this would be possible without the foresight, guidance and determination from the City...  Lenexa has been a great development partner in every sense of the word and every step of the way.”

Lenexa Mayor Michael Boehm said it is gratifying to watch a long-time dream take shape. 

“We could not be more pleased with all the development activity in the City Center area. It really has become what we and the community originally envisioned - the city and civic hub of the City of Lenexa,” Boehm said in a release. 

The District at City Center officially broke ground on Tuesday, September 19.

The project team for The District at City Center Lenexa includes: Copaken Brooks (Co-developer, office leasing agent & property manager), EPC Real Estate Group (Co-developer, apartment leasing agent & property manager), Klover Architects (architect), Studio A Architecture (residential consultant), BSE (structural engineer), Latimer Sommers & Associates (mechanical design), Phelps Engineering (civil engineer - private), GBA Architects Engineers (civil engineer - public), HarenLaughlin Construction (general contractor), Richard Clayton Barrett (landscape design) and Lewis Rice (legal).

For more information about The District, email Ryan Biery at rbiery@copaken-brooks.com. Or check out more about the project here. 

Wanted in Edgerton: Restaurant and residential development

With almost 11 million square feet of industrial space under construction and 3,400 new jobs created in three years, the City of Edgerton is scrambling to attract retail, restaurant and residential development activity.

“Our projects went extremely fast. The amount of traffic and number of employees we are seeing here and the desire to have amenities and housing options nearby just continues to increase,” said Edgerton Mayor Don Roberts.

NorthPoint Development’s Logistics Park Kansas City in Edgerton is among the most successful industrial park buildouts in the nation in recent memory, both in terms of total square footage and speed to market. But attracting and building ancillary development to support the burgeoning workforce has a longer runway, and that’s one reason the city launched its own economic development partnership, ElevateEdgerton!, earlier this year.

“There is a lot of development happening in the KC area right now, and we are trying to compete with other more established areas and trying to get people to come to Edgerton,” said Edgerton City Administrator Beth Linn. “Once people are at (LPKC), it sells itself, but getting them here can be a challenge because we are kind of an unknown in the market.”

The basic message ElevateEdgerton! wants to send is that the market is ripe and ready for additional investment beyond industrial warehouse and distribution projects. The influx of thousands of new Amazon and UPS workers requiring places to eat and spend money before, during and after their workdays has changed the conversation.

“We have the numbers, and we have to bring these other sectors,” Roberts said. “Two years ago, things were different, but a fast service restaurant will make it in Edgerton today.”

Russell Pearson with NAI Heartland is on the team marketing the Midwest Gateway speculative industrial project in Edgerton and agrees that the time is right for more development: "The industrial growth in Edgerton has been dramatic in the past few years, and this creates a real opportunity for developers to deliver commercial and residential product to support the employee base in that area.”

In addition to restaurant and residential housing, the city is working to attract a large, full-service truck stop to accommodate commercial vehicles and possibly provide additional quick service dining. Roberts believes that a dramatic rise in traffic counts over the past three years will help make the case.

“Homestead Lane wasn't even open 3 ½ years ago. To go from 0 to 10,000 vehicles a day is unheard of,” Roberts said.

Interested developers should contact Steve Hale at ElevateEdgerton! to identify top sites.

Vertical construction moves forward on Belton Gateway Phase Two

Infrastructure, pad site preparation and road reconstruction for the $63 million Phase Two of Belton Gateway are underway, with the first restaurant scheduled to open later this year and five new retailers on target to open in early 2018.

The future home of Kneaders Bakery is under construction at Christie Development Associates LLC's 47-acre, $136 million retail center just west of I-49 along Y Highway, and crews are preparing pad sites for Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls, Party City, Petco, and Five Below.

“Belton Gateway is quickly becoming Cass County’s premier retail destination, thanks to its location just west of I-49 and Y Highway,” said Belton Community and Economic Development Director Jay Leipzig. “We are seeing a tremendous amount of activity in this corridor, which offers retailers great visibility and convenient highway access due to a new interchange.”

Relocation of Turner Road is on target for completion in the third quarter of 2017 and will improve traffic flow from Y Highway/163rd Street to Belton's North Scott Redevelopment Corridor. 

Developed by Christie Development, Belton Gateway’s two phases include more than 182,000 square feet of developable space adjacent to the recently constructed I-49/Y Highway interchange that carries an estimated 85,000 vehicles daily.

The project’s $70 million Phase One developed in conjunction with Block & Company, Inc. included a 58,000 square foot Academy Sports and Outdoors store, 55,000 square foot Hobby Lobby, and two multiple-tenant retail buildings that are home to Belton Family Dental Care, Fazoli’s, and Cricket Wireless. The project's master plan includes construction of a 20,000 square foot hotel.