McKeever's Market to anchor 'Streets of West Pryor' in Lee's Summit

The $180 million Streets of West Pryor mixed-use development in Lee's Summit will be anchored by McKeever’s Market & Eatery. The 63,000 SF grocery store is a new-to-market concept operated by the McKeever family, with third-generational roots and over 40 years’ experience in the grocery space.

Drake Development broke ground in May on the 70-acre, $180 million project, located at the intersection of Interstate 470 and NW Pryor Road.

Other highlights include a 220+ luxury apartment complex, 165+ room hotel, 160+ age-restricted apartments-villas, and a wide range of national and local retail and restaurants. Due to ongoing negotiations, Drake declined to disclose additional tenant commitments.

The luxury apartment complex is being developed by Indianapolis-based Pearl Companies. First-class amenities will include underground structured parking, pool, fitness center, multiple courtyards, and first-floor access to restaurants, retail, and walking-trails to neighboring Lowenstein Park.

Led by Drake Development president, Matt Pennington, Streets of West Pryor was designed with the intent of creating a walkable and sustainable mixed-use community at the gateway of Lee’s Summit.

“When people think of a “mixed-use” development sometimes the end-product falls short, as it’s commonplace to have opportunities for live and play, but the “play” doesn’t extend beyond shopping or dining. We wanted to extend the “play” to outdoor recreation, and this was achieved through ample green space and walking trails connecting to neighboring Lowenstein Park. It was critical we tailored the site plan to include Lowenstein Park, which is a favorite among Lee’s Summit residents,” Pennington said.

The property is one of the last large infill sites in the KC metro, continually pursued by developers for its ideal location, but plagued with significant development issues including large quantities of rock, varying topography, power line relocation, and land assemblage of thirteen parcels owned by eight different property owners.

“We had an obligation to listen to any and all resident concerns. Planning meetings were meant to be an open discussion, answering all questions and iterating the project as we moved forward to address those concerns. We truly believe Streets of West Pryor was “co-created” with the City of Lee’s Summit and its residents,” Pennington said.

"As a consultant to Drake Development throughout the process and as a lifelong resident of Lee's Summit, I am so proud of what this brings to our community today and in the future, John Lovell, Lee's Summit Planning Commissioner added.

Other partners involved in the development include Emery Sapp & Sons, Lovell Sagebrush Insurance, RI Architects, and Schwerdt Design Group. Streets of West Pryor is expected to be complete by Summer 2020.

Occidental completes purchase of Sprint Headquarters Campus

Occidental Management, a Wichita, Kansas-based, "turn-key" commercial real estate development and management firm, closed on its purchase yesterday of the 20-building, 190-acre Sprint Headquarters Campus.

Sprint Corp. chose Occidental after an extensive, nation-wide selection process based on their shared vision for working with Sprint and the other campus tenants to re-invigorate and create an environment for companies to recruit and retain top workforce talent in the region and country.

This vision includes the recently completed OPx redevelopment, which neighbors the campus and was transformed into a vibrant, contemporary Class A office complex.

"The Sprint campus has been one of our ideal acquisition targets in the Kansas City market, and we’re excited to start work to enhance the already amenity rich campus," said Gary Oborny, CEO and Chairman of Occidental.

The Sprint headquarters will remain on the Overland Park campus. As part of the agreement between the two companies, Sprint is leasing back buildings for its long-term office needs, primarily in the southern portion of the campus.

"We are excited to add to our operating platform in Overland Park. Sprint has solidified its long-standing commitment to Kansas City and we look forward to working with them and the other tenants on campus as they look to grow their businesses in our home State," said Chad Stafford, president of Occidental and Overland Park native.

With the transaction complete, Occidental expects to announce more details for its future plans for the campus by year’s end.

New $25 million spec creative office building heading to River Market

Epoch Developments has announced that they plan to move forward with a $25 million spec office building on what is now a surface parking lot at the northwest corner of Third and Delaware in downtown KC's River Market.

The transit-oriented development project is proposed as a 64,000 SF, five-story building and will house office and restaurant space.

“This project will accelerate the transformation of Delaware into a diverse destination district,” said Craig Slawson, Epoch Developments founder. “This has long been a vision of ours and we’re excited to add a work component to the mix.”

Slawson said it’s important that the new structure complement the surrounding historical buildings, so plans include features and building materials that form a cohesive aesthetic for the street.

While still in the pre-leasing stage, the project is seeking a best-of-breed, locally owned and managed restaurant as well as a potential fitness club on the first floor. Floors two through five will be commercial space, and a possible floor six will have a penthouse suite with rooftop venue open to the public. Parking will be available underground.

Epoch, known for rescuing vintage buildings to convert and activate lifestyle communities in the urban core, currently owns 22 vintage buildings that are designed and/or operational and 3 acres of infills in Wichita, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas City is home to 20 of the buildings, representing an investment of over $40 million. In Wichita, Epoch owns three warehouse-to-apartment conversions.

Project partners include Slaggie Architects and Catalyst Ventures. Construction is projected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year and be complete in late 2020.

Co-Office provider giant, Industrious, heads to Plaza

Industrious, the largest premium flexible workspace provider in the U.S., has signed on to take 30,000 SF on the Country Club Plaza (420 Nichols Road).

Known for its professional atmosphere and thoughtfully-designed spaces intended to increase productivity, Industrious highlights its focus on providing members with an elevated hospitality-driven workplace experience.  

“Kansas City is a dominant market in the Silicon Prairie. As one of the largest and fastest-growing tech hubs in North America, it made sense for Industrious to have a presence in the region,” said Justin Stewart, president and co-founder of Industrious. “Our existing relationships with Macerich and Taubman led us to Country Club Plaza, a highly-amenitized and desirable area that our members will love. We look forward to supporting the ongoing growth of companies across Kansas City.”

This is Industrious’s third location with Macerich, who currently owns 51 million SF of real estate consisting primarily in 47 regional shopping centers.

This is also Industrious’s second location with Taubman Centers, an S&P MidCap 400 Real Estate Investment Trust engaged in the ownership, management and/or leasing of regional, super-regional and outlet shopping centers in the U.S. and Asia.

“The addition of Industrious further solidifies our position as the market-dominant shopping center,” said Meredith Keeler, general manager at Country Club Plaza. “Our patient curation of new tenants for the Plaza continues to create excitement and expand our customer base.”

Across the country, Industrious members include large, well-known companies such as Pfizer, Hyatt, Airbus, Pandora, Lyft, Pinterest, and more. Industrious currently has over 80 locations across more than 40 U.S. cities. Industrious Country Club Plaza will offer co-working and private offices for teams of various sizes and is expected to be open for business Q3 2019.

Groundbreaking ceremony kicks off today for Charlotte Street Foundation

A groundbreaking ceremony will kick off at 5pm today to celebrate the soon-to-be start of construction for Charlotte Street Foundation’s new campus, located near Roanoke Park.

Charlotte Street Foundation was established in 1997 in response to a lack of creative, social and economic resources for Kansas City artists. The organization has steadily expanded its suite of services to include special commissions, free studio residencies, exhibition and performance space for artists, and advocacy with local and national philanthropic business and civic leaders. Charlotte Street is also the only organization in the region that grants artists direct monetary support.

The new campus – a two-building industrial complex – is located at 3333 Wyoming Street and will offer nearly 25,000 SF of operating space. Charlotte Street’s relocation will repurpose the closed, segregated buildings into a flexible, open, community-focused hub of activity.

The building concept starts with the idea of an artist’s village. Hufft, who leads the design, focused on connections: artists to other artists; artists to the greater community; artists to the Charlotte Street staff; and artists to the surrounding landscape.

The building opens up both vertically and horizontally, starting with inserting a main reception that connects the lower and upper terraces. As the new collective entrance to the building it ensures that everyone passes through the same space regardless of how they access the hilly site. It serves as a lobby, an incubator, a lecture hall with large cascading staircase, and the first space for a chance interaction. From here the building opens up vertically, so that from the reception you can see up to the artist’s studio levels, forming the next level of community interaction.

The final step is the insertion of large openings into the windowless industrial building, providing a glimpse to the outside and connecting the artists to both the surrounding community and lush landscape. The result is a continuous internal village streetscape, where artists step outside their studio to find themselves in an active continuous space, one that connects down to the reception, artist’s courtyard, and beyond.

The foundation moved its offices to the new campus in October and continues to operate their 2019 programming out of various metro area locations. With construction kicking off this summer, current project schedules have the transition of resources to the campus taking place in the first quarter of 2020.

Hufft leads the design along with the project team of Benson Method, who serves as the Owner Representative. Newkirk Novak is the general contractor, 40North is the landscape architect, and engineering support for the project is provided by Lankford Fendler as MEP.

The Charlotte Street Foundation Groundbreaking Ceremony is today, June 12 starting at 5pm at 3325-3335 Wyoming Street. There will be a guided tour and feature artists performing throughout the event.