MetroWire Media expands into St. Louis market

MetroWire Media LLC, (MWM) a commercial real estate media company established in Kansas City over a decade ago, has expanded into the St. Louis market.

Offering a timely newsletter and informative, signature events, MWM is exclusively dedicated to covering the commercial real estate (CRE) and development industries.

"St. Louis seemed like the next logical choice when we were considering expansion. MWM has worked hard over the past ten years to connect with and help promote hundreds of KC clients -- and many also happen to have offices in St. Louis," said Lisa Shackelford, advertising and events director for MWM.

MWM-KC has grown to reach over 7,000 CRE professionals each week in their bi-weekly newsletter and consistently draw sold-out crowds at their industry-specific, bi-monthly events.

Clients include brokers, developers, bankers, architects, engineers, construction firms, title companies and more who engage with MWM to promote themselves in newsletter stories/news, advertising, event networking, sponsorships and as an event panelist or moderator.

"The plan is to grow from KC outward, aligning with our clients' offices and projects. We see Denver and Omaha as the next market additions after we are settled in St. Louis," Shackelford said.

The MWM-STL Newsletter has launched and interested recipients may now sign up via the following link, or on the MWM website under SUBSCRIBE TO MWM - STL NEWSLETTER.

The next KC MWM event will be the Healthcare Summit at JE Dunn Construction on March 11th. KC events rounding out the remainder of 2020 include the Office Summit on May 28 at Burns & McDonnell, the Multifamily Summit on July 30, the Retail Summit on September 10 at BRR Architecture and the Industrial Summit on November 19, 2020.

The first St. Louis event will be held in Q2 2020.

BRR Architecture unites with Dallas firm, RHA Architects

BRR Architecture (BRR) announced today RHA Architects (RHA), a Dallas-based design and architecture firm, will be joining BRR, effective immediately.

The RHA office in Dallas becomes BRR’s twelfth office location and adds more than 15 talented employees to BRR’s current talent roster. 

Operational since 1983, RHA has extensive experience supporting national retail, regional grocery and restaurant clients. The two firms have enjoyed a relationship which extends back several decades; both BRR and RHA have supported national retail clients across the United States and often collaborated on larger prototype programs.

“Our two teams really fit well together due to our collective histories supporting large national retailers. It is the right fit for both firms to move in this direction. By combining our strengths, we are even better suited to support our clients’ needs and provide exceptional architecture services," said James Hailey, president and CEO of BRR Architecture.

As part of this agreement, BRR adds two additional principal owners and two associates to its leadership team. Ty Holcomb, former president and CEO of RHA and Patrick Burke, former vice president and COO, have been named principals and manage the Dallas office. Additionally, Jim Sims and Maurice Musy have joined BRR’s associates’ team.

“The RHA team is excited to join forces with BRR. The merger opens up new opportunities for our Dallas-based team and also gives BRR a new market in which to grow its business. We believe both cultures will integrate well and continue to produce strong projects for our clients,” Holcomb said.

BRR now employs approximately 285 employees across the country, providing full-scope architecture services to retail, grocery, hospitality, industrial and corporate environment clients.

The financial details of the agreement will not be disclosed.

KC leads the nation in lowest vacancy rate for 2019 industrial construction

Kansas City leads the nation with the lowest vacancy rate for 2019 industrial construction completions, according to a recent report from CBRE.

Developers completed construction of 289 million SF of industrial and logistics real estate in the U.S. last year, but any concerns of oversupply are tempered, as only 39 percent of space in new construction was available.

Deliveries outpaced the 255 million SF of new absorption, but with robust leasing from occupiers, especially e-commerce and retail firms that often require modern building design and amenities, supply and demand dynamics remain healthy.

“With national vacancy at 4.4 percent, it was becoming difficult for occupiers to find modern space,” said James Breeze, CBRE Global Head of Industrial & Logistics Research.

Another major factor contributing to the strong absorption of new construction is the increase in built-to-suit development—the construction of space for a specific space user. This segment made up 28.1 percent of new construction activity, as companies increasingly need unique requirements to meet their specific demands.

“This new supply is needed and will keep transaction activity strong, especially for larger deals. The robust activity in newly constructed product also warrants the large amount of groundbreakings we continue to see," Breeze said.

In markets with over 4 million SF of new development, Kansas City finished 2019 with the lowest overall vacancy rate for 2019 construction completions at 7.3 percent, followed by Miami, Baltimore, and Greenville, SC, which all had vacancy rates for newly constructed product under 20 percent. Dallas-Fort Worth was the strongest core market, with nearly 75 percent of the 25 million SF completed in 2019 taken.

“The statistics tell the story, there is still very strong demand in Kansas City from a wide variety of industrial users,” said Joe Orscheln, a senior vice president in CBRE’s Kansas City office. “The majority of the space delivered in 2019 was speculative, which speaks even further to market demand.”

According to the report, supply fundamentals should remain stable this year, as already 33 percent of the 309 million SF under construction nationwide is already accounted for. A pre-leasing rate of 25 percent for under-construction product typically are indicative of a solid leasing environment.

“With pre-leasing robust for under construction projects, the overall vacancy rate is expected to remain in check in the foreseeable future,” said Breeze.

Read full CBRE Report here.

New master plan unites St. Elizabeth School and church in Waldo

Construction is underway on a $6 million addition and renovation at St. Elizabeth's Catholic School and Parish in the Waldo neighborhood of Kansas City, Mo.

St. Elizabeth’s Early Childhood Center (ECC), located across the street from the church, is also included in the campus master plan as part of a design-build partnership with Straub Construction, Hollis + Miller Architects and Lankford | Fendler + Associates. 

The new plan unites the ECC and the church on the west side of Main street, with the goal of improving safety, security and functionality for students, faculty and staff.

"By relocating the ECC building to the main campus, students and teachers no longer have to cross the street at the busy intersection of 75th and Main. The new master plan provides a safer solution," said Joe Riedel, vice president of business development for Straub Construction.

Many of the students who now attend the school are the second —or even third — generation of families to attend St Elizabeth School.

"One of the coolest parts of this story is how so many current parents, who once attended the school themselves, have banded together to pay it forward to ensure the legacy of the school stays strong for the next 100 years," said Riedel.

The 20,000 SF project includes a conversion of the existing rectory, built in 1948, into modern learning spaces designed specifically for students pre-school through kindergarten. The main sanctuary will be renovated to improve accessibility, functionality, storage and acoustics.  

“The new Early Childhood Center at St. Elizabeth establishes an exciting vision for our parish and school moving forward. It strengthens our commitment to the education and religious formation of our children and locates all our school buildings in close proximity to one another. The new facility will be tailored to the needs of early childhood education and will enable us to serve more families in the Waldo area,” said St. Elizabeth Parish pastor, Fr. Greg Haskamp.

Renovations to the sanctuary are complete. The Early Childhood Center will be open for school in August 2020.

$26.5 billion Sprint and T-Mobile merger paves stability for Johnson County

Last week a federal judge ruled in favor of the $26.5 billion Sprint and T-Mobile merger, shutting down anti-trust arguments brought by a group of attorney generals and clearing the way for the merger to close as early as April this year.

Prior to this ruling, reports of concerns on the stability of Sprint as a standalone company if the merger was blocked, created uncertainty of Sprint and T-Mobiles’ future office presence in South Johnson County. 

"These fears are now alleviated, as the merger will pave the way for stability in the Kansas City office market and the companies’ commitment to remaining in Kansas City. All signs point to continued stability in Johnson County," according to a recent report by JLL Research*.

The former Sprint Campus, now renamed as The Campus, sold to Occidental Management in July 2019. That quarter, availability in South Johnson County increased 0.4% after several former Sprint spaces became available. 

Availability in South Johnson County currently stands at 13.7%, below the market average of 16.2%.

Sprint currently occupies an estimated 2.2M SF of The Campus, with long-term leases to remain in about 1M SF. Sprint has also committed to at least $25M of capital investment to improve their long-term space.

About 1.5M SF is currently leased by third party tenants; 120,000 SF of which was leased since Occidental acquired The Campus. About 130,000 SF is currently available and marketed for lease. Occidental Management plans to invest significant capital in the campus to add amenities and attract third-party tenants.

A Place For Mom recently leased 42,000 SF at The Campus to house their first Kansas City office and has plans to hire 600 new employees to the KC metro.

Sprint currently employs 6,000 people at the campus and has shared speculative plans to hire 1,000 more.

*Statistics, opinions and other facts in this article sourced by JLL Research.