Shafer Kline Warren will lead Shawnee $5.2M extension project

The City of Shawnee is investing in an improvement district to better connect area residents to a new 300-unit residential development in Western Shawnee.

Developed by Bank of Blue Valley and Prieb Homes, the new 20-acre single-family subdivision, dubbed Greens of Chapel Creek, will be located between Clare and Gleason roads; However, Clear Creek Parkway currently dead ends after crossing K-7. That’s where Shafer, Kline & Warren steps in.

The improvement district being offered to the developers as an incentive includes $1.6 million in special assessments that will go toward the construction of an extension of a new Clear Creek Parkway. Shafer Kline & Warren has been selected to lead that project, an estimated value of $5.2 million.

As the Clear Creek Parkway project lead, SKW is providing site survey, as well as roadway, lighting, recreational trail and storm sewer design, and the construction observation to ensure the Clear Creek Parkway extension to Clare Road is done according to plan. Terracon will provide geotechnical engineering, while Landworks Studio will serve as landscape architect.

In addition to passing through the new development, the Clear Creek Parkway will split Shawnee Golf and Country Club and include golf cart underpasses. SKW partnered with Landworks Studios to develop the proposed design and landscape architecture that incorporates the stonework and sculptures from the K-7 Bridge into the connection of Clear Creek Parkway and Gleason Road.

Additionally, Brian Johanning, SKW vice president for infrastructure and development, will leverage his 10 years of experience in residential and commercial development as the project’s development liaison to assure the project meets the public and private needs.

“This alignment will be an important and beautiful asset for the community as it grows and develops,” Johanning said. “Each of us on the team at SKW will use our experience and expertise to ensure it fulfills the needs for the developers, the golf course and the entire community.”

The $5.2 million project is underway and is slated to be completed in late 2016.

Country Club Plaza names new general manager

New owners of the Country Club Plaza – Taubman and The Macerich Company – have tapped a new leader to manage Kansas City’s crown jewel. Meredith Keeler, a 20-year veteran of the industry, will take over as general manager and assume responsibility for operations, office, retailer and community relations, as well as marketing for the shopping center.

“There’s a vibrant energy in Kansas City and I’m thrilled to be part of the community’s unique history and charm,” Keeler said. “Country Club Plaza is incredibly iconic and I look forward to delivering a truly unique shopping and dining experience to both local residents and visitors.”

Most recently, Keeler served as general manager of the Stamford Town Center in Stamford, Conn., and also served as director of marketing for all Taubman Centers.

Taubman Centers is an S&P MidCap 400 Real Estate Investment Trust engaged in the ownership, management and/or leasing of 23 regional, super-regional and outlet shopping centers in the U.S. and Asia. Taubman’s U.S.-owned properties are the most productive in the publicly held U.S. regional mall industry. Taubman is currently developing four properties in the U.S. and Asia totaling 4.1 million square feet. Founded in 1950, Taubman is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Taubman Asia, founded in 2005, is headquartered in Hong Kong.

How NMTCs transform KC communities

A handful of transformative development projects across the Kansas City area are underway, thanks to New Market Tax Credits, a federal financing tool that is stimulating development in the communities that need it most.

Most of these credits are used in large, transformative real estate projects valued at $10 million or above, while others are used for smaller investments (valued at $500,000 to $1 million) for capital needs such as equipment, plant expansion, and owner occupied real estate that help low income community businesses grow.

Each year, the federal government allocates $3.5 billion nationally. And in 2015, Enterprise Financial Community Development Entity (EFCDE), a subsidiary of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ: EFSC), was awarded $65 million– its third allocation in a row, and the fourth in the last 5 allocation rounds. To date, EFCDE has deployed roughly $183 million in allocations.

We spoke with Enterprise Bank’s Jeff Friesen, senior vice president and director of commercial real estate – Kansas City, and Mitch Baris, president of Enterprise Tax Credit Services, to learn more about the world of NMTCs. Here’s a look at four major Kansas City projects coming to fruition as a result of new market tax credits.

Westport Commons

EFCDE just closed on its latest loan, a $5 million allocation, to the developers of Westport Commons. Kansas City Sustainable Development Partners plans to convert the 160,000-square-foot Westport Middle School into the biggest co-working space in the world, designed to benefit Kansas City’s emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem and respond to businesses’ demands for more collaborative workspace. Space will be leased to for-profit and non-profit tenants, including corporate innovation groups, communications/media, entrepreneurs, technology start-ups, arts organizations and sustainability groups.

The project also received another $10 million allocation provided by AltCap. U.S. Bank Community Development Corporation was the tax credit equity investor in both the New Markets and Federal historic tax credit equity in the project. Enterprise Bank invested in the State historic tax credit equity, and provided some of the debt, along with Missouri Bank.

Sioux Chief Manufacturing

Another project on the horizon that benefited from new market tax credits is Sioux Chief Manufacturing’s new 596,000-square-foot plant located at CenterPoint Intermodal Facility. EFCDE, AltCap, Central Bank CDE, the Port KC and US Bank/USBCDC provided $34.5 million in NMTC allocation, equity and structured financing for the project. The plant, which will be completed in 2016, will accommodate the company’s growing business which expects to create 100 to 150 jobs over the next three to five years.

Three Trails Park

Because the first building in a new park is always the most difficult, as spending on new infrastructure items – sewer lines, roads, etc. – must be started with the first building. What enabled this to happen was EFCDE, Central Bank CDE and USBCDC’s $6.5 million allocation in New Market Tax Credits and equity for the project.

Crossroads Charter School

EFCDE and USBCDC allocated a total of $6.5 million NMTCs and provided equity to this project. Enterprise Bank & Trust provided bridge financing. The financing provided is what allows this Charter School to expand its offerings, and its space, for the future educational needs of this low-income community.

EFCDE says there are a number of reasons why it’s received one of the largest NMTC allocations in 2015.

“There are many reasons why EFCDE received one of the largest allocations of NMTCs in the country in 2015. We are now an experienced CDE, with a proven track record to quickly deploy allocations received – $183 million to-date. We have also designated a significant portion of our allocations in all rounds to non-metropolitan areas, with a proven track record to get these deals closed,” Baris said.

“Also, our two pronged deployment approach to utilizing allocation to not only large transformative projects, but also to smaller capital fund deals, has created a unique model,” Friesen said. “ In addition, we have committed to deploying a sizable portion of our allocation in Kansas – a state considered “underserved” by NMTC allocations. Finally, the fact that we can bring Enterprise Bank & Trust – a very experienced NMTC lender (and the most difficult piece of the complicated NMTC puzzle) to the table only helps our case of being able to deploy allocation quickly after receipt.”

Colliers International’s Deal of the Week

Cadast Investment Company sold a 49,931-square-foot retail building located at 6001-6201 Independence Ave. in Kansas City, Mo. The buyer, Gen X Echo B, was represented by Jeff Berg and Mark Arensberg of Colliers, while the seller was represented by Vic Cascio of Newmark Grubb Zimmer.

KCRAR Commercial awards spotlight top producing local brokers

The local chapter of KCRAR Commercial is shuffling the way it decides which member of the brokerage community deserve its highest annual awards. KCRAR Commercial Vice Chairman Tom Houts of Cushman & Wakefield described the changes the committee was making at the KCRAR Commercial annual awards ceremony, held last week at Populous’ new space at 4800 Main St.

“It’s amazing the animosity and pushback you receive from collecting this data. The committee was wondering why we were pushing something that people were resisting? We made a decision at that point to change this. We get it that not everyone wants to list out their deals. Starting today, we’re going to look at more holistic volumes and the complexity of deals,” he said. “Moving forward, we’re going to take the burden off the brokers of submitting numbers, and their deals, and really put it on the awards committee. They’ll analyze data and figure out the appropriate winners.”

This year, seven brokers from five area brokerage houses took home top honors in their respective categories. Here’s a look at each of the winners.

The top volume dealmaker of the year in the investment world was Jeff Stingley of CBRE. Stingley had a capstone 2015 year with a total transaction volume of $480 million. But his favorite statistic of the year represents the fact that half of his transactions in 2015 brought a new owner to the market.

“I think it shows the desirability of Kansas City as a market for these guys to place millions of dollars of investment in. They don’t do that lightly. They do due diligence and they like what they see,” Stingley said.

All in all, the Kansas City market saw $950 million in total transaction volume for the year, and because some deals manage to sneak under the rug, he feels completely confident calling Kansas City a billion dollar market. Compare that to cities like Twin Cities, which also had a billion dollar year but is double the size of Kansas City. St. Louis, in comparison, brought in $650 million in deals while Cincinnati saw roughly $350 million.

The retail volume dealmaker of the year went to David Hickman of CBRE, who completed more than 2 million square feet worth of transactions in 2015, including the sale of Metro North Mall and an 88,000-foot-lease with AMC.

“Nothing is accomplished without a great team of coworkers at CBRE KC retail department, and the unbelievable network of talented retail brokers in KC that I shared many transactions with in 2015,” Hickman said in a statement.

In the industrial world, Whitney Kerr Jr. of Cushman & Wakefield took home the award for top volume, having completed some of the largest industrial transactions in the city in 2015.

Greg Swetnam of Kessinger Hunter took home the top volume award for the office category, thanks to his involvement in one of the largest renewals at the Country Club Plaza and in Crown Center.

“As most of us know, it’s all about relationships,” Swetnam said. “We do a lot of transactions, but it’s really a transactional business around a relationship.”

The KCRAR Commercial annual Rookie of the Year award is an award based upon production, community service, ethics, education, and contribution to the local association. The award winner, Matt Ledom of Block Real Estate Services, began his career in 2013 as an investment sales specialist — or as Ken Block calls it, “Probably the hardest thing you can do.” To date, Ledom has been involved in the sale of more than 400,000 square feet of commercial space worth more than $43 million.

But it wasn’t always easy. Ken Block says he and other company leaders would give Ledom pep talks, encouraging him to arrive to work early, leave late, make a lot of calls and relationships, and promised him he’d get the hang of it.

“Let me tell you what I think,” Block said. “The guys that have luck are the people that put themselves in that position by hard work, by dedication, and by being in a place to be lucky. You don’t get lucky if you’re not working. He kept at it with a lot of dedication and I have to tell you, he got lucky.”

The next award on the docket, the Roger Cohen Salesperson of the Year award went to Michael Sonnenberg of NAI LaSala-Sonnenberg Heartland. The criteria is based upon an exceptional record of ethics, cooperation with fellow brokers, contributions to the association. Sonnenberg, a partner with the firm, has served as a commercial realtor in both Kansas City and St. Louis and has been involved in more than $100 million worth of transactions in office, medical office, and retail sales.

Finally, Pat McGannon of Kessinger Hunter took home the Allen J. Block Broker of the Year award. Named in honor of an icon of the local brokerage community, the award highlighted McGannon’s career, which began in 1994 and now entails overseeing the industrial arm of 8 Kessinger Hunter brokers who handle leasing and sales for more than 9 million square feet of industrial properties in the Kansas City area.

Get the scoop on the next upcoming networking events with KCRAR Commercial and other groups by visiting our event calendar.