Marcus & Millichap Appoints New President & CEO

After 35 years with the firm, Marcus & Millichap CEO John Kerin will retire from the firm at the end of March. Hessam Nadji, who currently serves as senior executive vice president, will replace him.

Kerin will continue to serve as a senior advisor and offer consulting services.

“This transition comes at a time of strength for our company, given the growth of our highly respected brand, deep management team and strong balance sheet,” Founder and Co-Chairman George M. Marcus said. “John and Hessam have worked very closely over the years. John’s retirement and Hessam’s promotion are a natural and positive transition.”

Marcus & Millichap’s Kansas City office specializes in various multifamily acquisitions and dispositions nationally. This includes individual property and portfolio transactions as well as special assets within the multifamily field.

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.