New York firm buys Fountain View apartments on the Plaza

CBRE has arranged the sale of Fountain View on the Plaza, a 398-unit luxury apartment community located adjacent to Kansas City’s County Club Plaza.

A global investment advisor sold the property to an affiliate of Abacus Capital Group in an undisclosed transaction that closed in September 2020.

The deal represents a return to the Kansas City market for the New York-based buyer after exiting in 2016 with the sale of the 596-unit Northland Passage Apartments in the metro’s Northland submarket.

Jeff Stingley, an executive vice president in CBRE’s Kansas City office, along with senior associates Max Helgeson and Michael Spero, represented the seller in the transaction.

“Fountain View is the community of choice for Kansas City renters wanting to live at the doorstep of the metro’s top amenities and attractions, while at a discount to the submarket’s newer developments and single-family homes. The high-profile, in-fill site is among the best in the Midwest and will provide significant risk mitigation for future ownership while also enabling a perpetual modernization strategy that will drive rents and provide extraordinary yields,” Stingley said.

The stretch of Main Street directly in front of the property has been slated as a high-volume stop on the future KC Streetcar line. With the planned southern extension from Union Station to 51st Street, Fountain View will also be included as a “transit-oriented development.”

“Kansas City’s multifamily market continues to show its resiliency despite the pandemic and resulting economic slowdown. The metro’s diverse economic base and concentration of durable industries have positioned Kansas City as a safe-haven for capital and buyers are knocking down our door to find opportunities,” Stingley said.

With this sale included, CBRE’s Kansas City multifamily group has completed $250 million in metro apartment sales so far in 2020, according to Stingley.

Urban Outfitters brings jobs, economic stability to Kansas City heartland

The lure of centralized transportation, deep talent pool and strong partnerships proved lucrative to Urban Outfitters (UO) in their recent selection of Kansas City, Kan. as the new home for an 880,000-SF, omni-channel distribution center, which will be located on ancillary land at Kansas Speedway.

The partnership between the State of Kansas and Philadelphia-based URBN will create up to 2,000 new jobs and invest approximately $350 million in Kansas over the next several years.

The Department of Commerce worked closely with KC SmartPort, the Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC), the Wyandotte County Economic Development Council and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County in attracting UO to the KC region.

“This was a true collaboration to generate an economic development success story that will deliver benefits in Wyandotte County and beyond in our state,” said Governor Laura Kelly.

URBN cited Kansas’ central location, transportation infrastructure and skilled workforce as key factors in choosing Kansas for its distribution operation, acknowledging the location as critical to its distribution network.

“Our region is strategically positioned in America’s heartland as a major transportation hub, so this decision makes all the sense in the world. This partnership will bring thousands of jobs and much needed investments to our community, and in turn benefit our entire state. I look forward to working with Urban Outfitters to ensure it is a smooth transition,” said Kansas Representative Sharice Davids.

"We are impressed with their culture and desire to work with the community to address community issues like transit, childcare, a local hiring goal, good wages and using local, minority and women-owned companies in the construction of their facility.

The investment and number of jobs are impressive, but the long term opportunities for growth with a company like Urban Outfitters is even more impressive. (We are) appreciative to the State of Kansas, Unified Government, Kansas Speedway, BPU and Hillwood Properties to bring this to fruition,” said Greg Kindle, president of the Wyandotte County Economic Development Council.

About UO: Urban Outfitters is a lifestyle retailer dedicated to inspiring customers through a unique combination of product, creativity and cultural understanding. Founded in 1970 in a small space across the street from the University of Pennsylvania, Urban Outfitters now operates over 200 stores in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Grocer's Warehouse complex sells to Taing Capital Group

The Grocer’s Warehouse complex, anchored by Hufft Architecture and Fabrication in the historic Roanoke Park neighborhood of Kansas City, Mo., has sold to Taing Capital Group, LLC.

Originally a manufacturing facility built in 1949 by Kansas City grocer Fred Wolferman, the iconic building was redeveloped into creative office and living space in 2015. The 60,000 SF building has seven commercial tenant spaces and studio loft apartments.

Hufft plans to remain in its current space as the GW anchor, along with the other tenants including Studio Lofts, Real Fitness & Conditioning, Pure Workplace Solutions, Roanoke Park Conservancy, MEDiAHEAD and ZancTank Concepts.

“We have realized our master plan for the Grocer’s Warehouse campus and properties. It has been a phenomenal process to see it transform. While our primary roles lie in running Hufft, we were ready for a group to take over the management and all of the responsibilities that come with that. We are very much looking forward to staying a part of the GW campus and Roanoke Park for a long time. The Roanoke Park Conservancy is really to be credited for their efforts in making this location a desired place to work and live. That group holds the original visionaries that believed in this beautiful area of Kansas City,” said Hufft co-founder and principal, Jesse Hufft.

Logan Freeman of Clemons Real Estate and Parker Webb with Third Space Property Group represented the buyer and Pat Murfey of Evergreen Real Estate Services represented the seller in the June 2020 transaction.

"This was a great collaboration between the current ownership group and the new buyers. It was definitely an uphill battle with the pandemic and commercial tenants being a large percentage of the rental income. Securing financing was tricky, but we had a local lender step up who believed in the project as much as we do. Both sides worked together great and are going to continue this vision for the Grocer’s Warehouse and the surrounding Roanoke Park area," Freeman said.

Read previous Grocer’s Warehouse stories by MWM here:

July 2019

Sept 2017

T.J. Maxx, Saltgrass Steak House, Cactus Grill and more say 'Yes' to Bluhawk

T.J. Maxx, Saltgrass Steak House, Cactus Grill, AT&T, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ and Panera Bread are among the most recent tenant additions at Bluhawk's development in Overland Park, Kansas.

The strong list of tenant commitments follows the recent award of $66 million in STAR bond funding from the Kansas Department of Commerce.

“This key STAR bonds approval and the wave of tenant commitments to Bluhawk represent a critical mass of achievements as we move forward with this highly-sustainable and desirable destination-anchored site,” said Bart Lowen, Price Brothers vice president of development.

T.J. Maxx will be located in the Marketplace Neighborhood of Bluhawk and is scheduled to open in spring 2020. Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ, Cactus Grill, AT&T, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers are also planning Spring 2020 openings. Saltgrass Steak House anticipates opening in fall 2020 and Panera Bread will open at the end of this year.

“Bluhawk is now in its next phase of progress and we are tremendously excited about its growth. We are thankful to the State of Kansas, the City of Overland Park and its residents for being so supportive of our vision for the property,” Lowen said.

Other areas of the site continue to move forward including AdventHealth’s South Overland Park ER expansion into a full-service hospital in 2021 and state-of-the-art apartment homes, The Residences at Bluhawk, which are open now and available for leasing.

CBRE awarded bulk of Corporate Woods property management portfolio

CBRE’s Property Management business line has been awarded a significant portfolio by New York-based real estate co-investment firm, Group RMC.

The 34-building office and retail portfolio totals 3.38 million SF across the Kansas City metro area.

The assignment contains three Group RMC sub-portfolios; the largest component of the portfolio is Corporate Woods, a premiere office park in Overland Park, KS with amenities including wooded walking trails, a wide selection of cafés and restaurants and electric vehicle charging stations. The complete portfolio includes:

• 2,167,784 SF in 22 buildings in Corporate Woods, Overland Park, KS

• 806,864 SF along College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS

• 397,627 SF in South Kansas City along Ward Parkway

The CBRE Property Management team of Cori McLain and Melissa Gray will be overseeing the assignment.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to service these best-in-class assets. CBRE has a complete spectrum of integrated services and an enterprising team that will be able to institutionally maintain these properties for years to come,” McLain said.

Group RMC currently oversees over 16.3 million SF representing over $2 billion in asset value in the U.S., principally in the midwest.

“I am consistently amazed at the world-class outcomes our Property Management team delivers to clients and this assignment speaks to that demonstrated success,” said Mike Klamm, CBRE Kansas City’s managing director.

CBRE assumed management of the properties effective October 1, 2019.