ULI 2017 Developments of Distinction: The Grocers Warehouse

The Grocers Warehouse is the former home of Kansas City’s famed Wolferman grocery distribution facility. The 60,000-square foot building located at the base of Roanoke Park in midtown Kansas City sat abandoned and forlorn for years until Matthew Hufft and Jesse Hufft began dreaming about reinventing and restoring the property.

“It had been vacant for over 10 years, and we kept thinking there had to be a way to revive the building. Trees were growing from the inside of it, there were lots of broken windows and it was just neglected,” said Matthew Hufft, owner of Hufft, a design collective that designs, constructs and fabricates everything from office space to office furniture. “We kind of thought, ‘We live in the neighborhood. Here is a building that needs help. How do we creatively put ourselves inside of it?”

The Huffts envisioned a mixed-use adaptation and historical preservation that could house their design firm and fabrication processes and also include 14 studio loft apartments. The project enabled Hufft to more than double its office and fabrication space from its previous 15,000 square foot location in Westport while more than doubling its headcount in two years.

“I like to say the building allowed us to become the company we wanted to be,” Jesse Hufft said. “We hope that what we have done with this building is going to add longevity, value, beautification, and maybe just a vibe and legitimacy to the area-- and we absolutely love having the chance to put life back into this spot."

The project was first among several redevelopments taking place in the Roanoke neighborhood and is often praised for serving as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization, but the Huffts credit the nonprofit Roanoke Park Conservancy with leading the charge.  

Hufft provided development, architecture, design and general contractor services for the project.  

ULI 2017 Developments of Distinction: Leon Mercer Jordan Campus

The Leon Mercer Jordan Campus provides state-of-the-art facilities for Kansas City, Mo. police officers at the new East Patrol Division, as well as modernized resources to investigate crime at a new Regional Crime Lab. Located on Kansas City's east side, the 18-acre urban core redevelopment helped bring new life to an area desperate for revitalization.

“The police from the get-go saw this as an opportunity to do more than just a building. They knew they were building in a community that they wanted to connect to, and they knew this investment was going to be a catalyst for more development down the road,” said Helix Architecture + Design Principal Reeves Wiedeman. “This was a project that everybody’s intention was to get right, not just as a functioning police station but as something that the neighborhood in the end would feel connected to.”

Helix designed the East Patrol building to encourage community use, with police meeting space doubling as community rooms available to neighborhood groups in the evenings, as well as a gymnasium available to nearby residents.

The adjacent regional crime lab was designed to encourage maximum collaboration and transparency with glass offices but also features items of high interest and relevance on display, including a gun library with various firearms encased in glass.

“We developed the plan with offices in the middle… and circulation around the perimeter of the offices, so on tours you can see into every lab,” said Julie Wellner of Wellner Architects, which designed the crime lab’s interior.  “We thought, ‘what would make this the most flexible and best use of the land and also help the actual processes that happen with evidence throughout the building.' ”

The project included lofty goals for minority and women-based enterprises, as well as Section 3 contractors.

“We worked hard to make sure to makes sure we met the goals and delivered a high-quality project, so it was a process,” said Jeff Blaesing, JE Dunn vice president.

The project team toured the country with the Kansas City, Missouri police department and crime lab officials to inform design and implementation: “We toured the best of the best because this was our opportunity to get it right,” Wiedeman said.

Project partners include: City of Kansas City, Mo., developer; Helix Architecture + Design, architecture services; Wellner Architects, architecture services; JE Dunn, generator contractor; Bob D. Campbell, engineering services; Taliaferro & Browne, engineering services; ME Group, engineering services; Custom Engineering, engineering services; Alexander Mechanical Contractors, contractor.

ULI 2017 Developments of Distinction: Excelsior Springs Community Center

The Excelsior Springs Community Center is a $15 million project that has received industry attention for its successful adaptation of a former school site with various elevations and challenges.

“This is something the community had been calling for for 25 or more years. There was a huge need in the community for this facility, so we felt we had a really awesome opportunity to make a huge impact,” said Kerry Newman, principal of SFS Architecture.

One of the project’s challenges included building the facility on a site with a significant slope. A significant amount of earth work wasn’t feasible, according to SFS Associate Brian Garvey, so the design team came up with a concept that included a central ramp "spine" linking various spaces within the campus.

“The ramp links the spaces together and makes it more likely (for guests) to take the ramp and sometimes unknowingly get a little more exercise,” Garvey said.

The project also required public input and voter approval.

“I think was a huge challenge early on that there needed to be consensus to pass the tax that funded the center,” Newman said. “Merging that with business planning to make sure it would work financially for city... all those things had to be legitimized going into the referendum and the community had to believe in the work.”

The Excelsior Springs Community Center had a goal of 1,000 members in the first year, but membership blew past that in the first few months.

“It’s been very successful and a big economic impact to the community," Newman said. "Just delivering everything the community needed and maximizing the value of everything that would be there by making it exciting and multigenerational, with diverse user groups, and then bringing all those things together on an existing school campus.... I think it was a challenge and we succeeded.” 

Brittany Probst, facility supervisor, said the center is changing lives for its more than 2,000 members.

“There is a fitness aspect of it which is what people associate with a community center, but there’s also a social aspect to it,” Probst said. “Families who (previously) went home and watched TV all night, and that was their social time together, now they’re coming here and swimming as a family or playing pickle ball and basketball as a family, so it’s gratifying to hear every time someone says, ‘This facility has changed my life,’  because that’s why we are here.”

Project partners include: City of Excelsior Springs, developer; SFS Architecture, architecture services; Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture, architecture services; Crossland Construction, general contractor; Water Technology, Inc., engineering services; Henderson Engineers, engineering services; GBA, engineering services; SK Design Group, engineering services; Confluence, landscape architecture, Ballard*King & Associates, consulting services.

ULI 2017 Developments of Distinction: 10th & Wyandotte Parking Garage

The 10th & Wyandotte Parking Garage replaced a blighted, 30-year old parking garage at a busy intersection in Downtown Kansas City. Because the structure was an integral part of the neighborhood with high visibility, BNIM enlisted the support of artist Andy Brayman to quite literally breathe art into the design of the parking garage. 

"(BNIM was) interested in having an artist work on the project and not have it be just sort of a piece made that would be tacked onto the garage at the end. The thought of (the art) kind of being integrated into the process early on seemed really different to me and really exciting," Brayman said.

The goal was to create a structure that contributes to the neighborhood and environment rather than merely serving as a placeholder. 

"It was just an opportunity within the garage to do something fun and unique and interesting," said BNIM Principal Craig Scranton. "The holes inside allow for ventilation within the garage so that allows us to be an open parking garage... it was a cost effective, low energy solution to a parking structure, so it’s very functional and also artistic."

According to BNIM Designer Elvis Achelpohl, BNIM sought an artistic yet functional solution to "puncture" the garage and create pattern to ensure air would flow through the structure. 

"The concept is just creating ornamentation with the rules inherent in precast garage typology," Achelpohl said. "I think there are about 5,000 or 6,000 holes in the piece, and Andy was able to make about 10 percent of those have a ceramic tiles that are embedded, and that’s the color you see (from the outside)."

Brayman worked to ensure movement of air within the facade while creating different panels with decorative ventilation holes in a variety of colors, shapes and patterns. 

"It wasn’t just a cookie-cutter thing where every panel was the same as the next," he said.

The result is a functional yet aesthetically pleasing community improvement, one that caught the attention and respect of ULI Kansas City's Developments of Distinction panel of judges. 

"We think this garage is a lot more interesting than before, and I hope it has a positive impact on the next door neighbors," Scranton said.

Project partners include: MC Realty Group, developer; BNIM, architect; Burns & McDonnell, general contractor; Bob D. Campbell, engineering services; Custom Engineering, engineering services; Taliaferro & Browne, engineering services; The Matter Factory/Andy Brayman, artistic services. 

Platform launches new retail/office phase at New Longview as B&B goes vertical

The New Longview area in Lee's Summit is busy with construction activity as a huge crane finished tilting the exterior concrete walls last week for B&B Theatres' new boutique cinema located in the New Urbanism-themed commercial project. The theatre will include all-leather reclining seating, a full kitchen, a full bar, and a lounge and patio area.  

The property owner, a fund under the management of Platform Ventures (formerly Mariner Real Estate), is using the momentum to announce master plans for three to six additional retail and office buildings adjacent to the B&B Theatres project available for lease. The new phase on the north side of Fascination Drive within New Longview will include up to 60,000 square feet of space available for a mixture of commercial uses. 

"We are speaking with several potential tenants for office and retail buildings planned for 'Fascination North,' " said Platform Ventures Senior Vice President Corey Walker. 

The new buildings are conceived as creative/loft-style space and should attract a wide range of creative office, restaurant, retail, and medical-office users who appreciate the unique 'sense of place' that comes with a walkable project like New Longview, according to Brandon LaSala of NAI Heartland, which is marketing the project's office space. 

"We are really excited to work on lease-up of the next phase of retail/office buildings," LaSala said. "There is even a three-story headquarters office building availability that we've been discussing with a few users, and we look forward to some exciting announcements."

Office availabilities range from 1,000 to 8,000 square feet, plus a 55,000 square feet HQ office lot. Those interested in office space can contact Brandon LaSala here. 

Retail and restaurant availabilities range from 1,000 to 5,000 square feet. For more information, you can contact Chad LaSala here.