531 Grand apartment project in River Market nears kickoff

Block Real Estate Services and Omaha-based Cornerstone Associates LLC are getting ready to officially begin construction on a new 140-unit apartment project in the River Market. A ceremony on April 6th at 10 a.m. will mark the official start of construction.

The development consists of a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units with a 140-stall parking garage. On the ground floor of the building, the developer is planning for 10,000-square-feet of retail space with frontage along Grand Boulevard. The lobby entrance to the building will run along Missouri Ave. on the north facing side of the building.

Amenities for the project include a private outdoor swimming pool and patio space on top of that parking garage. It will also have a fitness center, club room, and private balconies.

The Planned Industrial Expansion Authority has stamped its approval on an incentive package for the developers that will include a 15-year property tax abatement. For the first 10 years, the project will receive a 100 percent tax abatement, but will pay $12,000 annual payments in lieu of taxes during that time. In the remaining 5 years, the project will get a 50 percent abatement.

The project team includes NSPJ Architects as architect, Taliaferro & Browne as engineer, and Lund Ross Construction as general contractor.

KCK Chamber promotes regionalism, collaboration at 2016 Annual Meeting

The Kansas City, Kan. Chamber of Commerce is preparing to host its 2016 Annual Meeting, an event in which it hopes to showcase that the area is “a good place to be.”

The KCK Chamber hopes its largest gathering of the year will help to create a more vibrant region in the way of more meaningful partnerships and regional collaboration. KCK Chamber Executive Director Daniel Silva and Chamber Board Chair Valerie Mussett from Design Mechanical will share why KCK is ‘A Good Place to Be’ and discuss their 2016 goals for the Chamber.

“This year’s annual meeting will provide guests with a more in depth look at the significant role KCK plays in regionalism through our community involvement, business development, diversity and technology advancements,” Silva said.

The lunch will feature a regionalism and collaboration panel showcasing leading business experts from the technology, government, and nonprofit realms. Panelists include Dennis Kish, national vice president with Google Fiber; Mayor Mark Holland with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County; Joe Reardon, president and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce; and CiCi Rojas, president and CEO of the Central Exchange. The discussion will be moderated by Kevin Collison of Burns & McDonnell.

The panel will discuss regional initiatives to deliver job growth and economic development, bi-state and organizational collaboration, and business diversity and engagement. The event is open to the public. For more information or to register to attend, click here.

CBRE predicts KC real estate to thrive in 2016

It’s a good year to be in Kansas City. With each sector making impressive moves in 2015, CBRE’s Kansas City office is predicting just as strong of a 2016, with a few nuances. Here’s a look at the real estate firm’s predictions for the coming year.

OFFICE

Kansas City’s top submarkets are hurting for more large blocks of Class A space, as evidenced by the climbing office occupancy rates. The lack of speculative office space has been a significant factor in lowering vacancy rates, the report notes, especially in South Johnson County and at the Country Club Plaza. While a handful of multitenant construction projects are on the horizon in 2016, none are truly speculative, as they will require significant preleasing prior to the start of construction.

This year, CBRE predicts asking lease rates will remain steady or see modest growth. Projects on the way include the 193,732-square-foot 46 Penn Centre on the Plaza, and the 142,717-square-foot historical conversion of Corrigan Station. The Dairy Farmers of America also have a new 100,000-square-foot headquarters building underway in Kansas City, Kan.

The border war over incentives will continue to play a significant role in luring companies back and forth across the state line, unless a bill that prohibits the use of state incentives to attract Kansas City area companies is successfully passed through the Kansas Legislature. However, some community leaders believe that restricting incentives will dampen Kansas City’s competitive edge over other parts of the country, and could lead major area employers to leave Kansas City altogether.

CBRE highlights its top 5 local producers

CBRE’s Kansas City office is highlighting its top five producers in 2015. The top five players represent five different business lines for the company and combine for a total of more than 125 years of industry experience.

The first and most impressive is Jeff Stingley, who focuses on multifamily investment properties. Of the $950 million in Kansas City-area apartment sales, Stingley accounted for $480 million of those sales. He’s a consistent top player, having been named among CBRE America’s Top 275 Producers in 2015.

David Hickman, a retail broker for CBRE, is the top producer in his department. He’s a 29-year CBRE veteran with more than $900 million worth of retail transactions across his career. He ranks in CBRE’s top 20 percent of brokers for the year.

Gina Anderson, who specializes in investment properties, had an impressive list of deals in 2015 that included the sale of 2555 Grand in Crown Center, the sale of Park Place in Leawood, and the sale of Plaza Vista.

Bob Fagan, who leads the team’s office brokerage and has been with the firm for 23 years, had a great 2015 that included Apria’s renewal of 121,000-square-feet of space at the Overland Park Sprint campus.

David Hinchman leads the team’s industrial brokerage efforts, capping off 2015 with a 423,000-square-foot long term lease for Lion Industrial Partners (LIT) to a tier one GM supplier in a new spec building at KCI Intermodal BusinessCentre, which was developed in partnership between Trammell Crow and Clarion Partners.

California developer plans 1M SF business park in Lee’s Summit

On March 31, the Lee’s Summit City Council will deliver its decision on whether to hand over the lead development role for an 85-acre tract of land to California-based Westcott Investment Group. The developer is planning a 1 million-square-foot business park, consisting of commercial office, warehouse, and light manufacturing space. If all goes as planned, Westcott would commence construction on the first phase of 200,000 square feet by the summer of 2017.

Last week, Westcott asked the Lee’s Summit City Council to approve the assignment of development rights granted to Exergonic LLC in 2011 through a public/private partnership development agreement. The City Council voted to direct staff to draft the documents necessary for the assignment to Westcott to take place; That assignment heads back to City Council on March 31 for approval.

Westcott is associated with Diede Construction Inc., a firm with 15 million square feet under management. The local team for Westcott includes Aaron March with White Goss, Daren Fristoe, Jon Plaas, Danny Potts of Klover Architects, and Ryan Elam of BHC Rhodes.

Westcott CEO Steve Singh said Lee’s Summit is a perfect development fit for his firm.

“Approximately two years ago, Westcott began the due diligence process on a potential site for a development in Lee’s Summit. We were drawn to the area by the city’s core strengths of premier health care, schools, parks, historic downtown and the need for additional locally-based employers,” Singh said. “Through our discussions with Exergonix, we determined this specific location as the optimum starting point to deliver the first step in an expansive mixed-use development, ultimately resulting in the creation of new jobs. With our proven development track record, we look forward to partnering with the City of Lee’s Summit and bringing The Grove at Lee’s Summit to fruition.”