Block drives reno for Oakwood Country Club

OCC Investors, LLC., an ownership group led by developer Ken Block, has purchased Oakwood Country Club at 9800 Grandview Rd. in Kansas City, Mo. with plans to begin renovations as early as this month.

“Our vision is to transform what is already a beloved property and golf course with a rich 139-year history into one that will be widely known as the state’s best - and what we hope will become the region’s best," said Block, who played his first round of golf at Oakwood Country Club at age nine.

OCC Investors brought in golf course and country club design and development experts from around the country to provide direction for the improvements of the course and grounds including Titan, Pinnacle Construction Group, Gensler and NSPJ Architects.

Work on the clubhouse and parking and grounds will be begin this summer, followed by the golf course. The first phase of the golf course is estimated to be complete by fall; the second phase includes opening new greens on several holes by next spring. A final round of upgrades will take place during the 2021 season.

Plans to transform the property from top to bottom for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, include:

• A new, world-class golf range

• New cart paths

• Better Billy Bunker system sand traps

• New championship tees and multiple tees for golfers of all levels

• Enlarged and enhanced fairways

• Top-tier, short-game practice facility

• Golf simulators

• Heated golf bays

• Planned Center of Golf Excellence for teaching pros to instruct members and non-members

• Modernizing the property from the front entrance throughout the property

• Improvements to bar, grill and event spaces

• Newly designed and upgraded restrooms and sitting rooms

• Enhancements to outside decks, balconies and seating areas, including adding fire pits and enhanced lighting

• New parking facilities

“NSPJ is excited to be a part of the renovations at Oakwood Country Club. We are working on a modernization and rebranding of this historic golf course that focuses on the golf experience,” said Katie Martinovic, VP/principal landscape architect for NSPJ.

Founded in 1881, Oakwood Country Club is the oldest operating country club in Kansas City and was frequented by former President Harry S. Truman in the 1950s.

Local school construction projects stay on schedule despite pandemic

As schools sit empty and students adjust to learning from home under the current stay-at-home order, many local school construction projects continue to progress.

Hollis + Miller Architects, who specializes in education (architecture and design) and works with a large number of Kansas City-area school districts, has not seen much of a slowdown on their schools’ projects.

The firm is currently working on several school projects to ensure they are ready for the upcoming school year, including Park Hill School District's LEAD Innovation Studio, Liberty School District's Performing Arts Center and new additions to Blue Springs High School, including a state-of-the-art band practice space.

While safety for all contractors has been paramount, the projects have nevertheless been able to move forward, despite the current obstacles.

“We’ve implemented procedures to ensure we maintain project safety and are meeting the safety guidelines of the authorities,” said Mike Chiles, senior project manager for JE Dunn Construction, who is overseeing the trade partners on the Blue Springs HS project.

“Communication is key, and the teams have handled that well with daily huddles and constant on-site supervision,” Chiles said.

Chiles admits the current situation isn’t ideal; nonetheless, has encouraged the team to overcome any obstacles in an effort to keep construction progressing and on schedule.

“It’s a major project for the school and the community, and it will allow them to really expand their programs and ability to impact the community,” Chiles said.

“Maintaining those partnerships among the architect, contractors and trade partners is crucial, especially when a project is facing additional challenges like they are now,” said Kirk Horner, partner at Hollis + Miller.

Several projects remain on schedule to open in time for the fall 2020 school year.

“While the local community will take a while to bounce back from this, we see this kind of construction as a positive sign of economic health. Our local schools are committed to consistently improving the learning environments for our local students, and we’re privileged to contribute to that effort,” Horner said.

Berkadia team remains positive, embraces new norm in midwest

As members of Berkadia’s Mid-Markets Group, we have seen first-hand the effects of COVID-19 across apartment markets in the Midwest. We have been fortunate to experience far fewer confirmed cases and deaths than the larger coastal metro-areas; however, the effects of the pandemic on the Midwest’s economy have still been significant.

“Stay-at-home” orders have saved lives, but they have also stunted local economic growth—particularly as these policies have shuttered small and mid-sized businesses throughout the region. The commercial real estate market is facing new challenges, but opportunities exist for those who have confidence in the long-term strength of the post-coronavirus apartment market.

Multifamily Industry Impacted, Opportunities Remain

At the beginning of this year, we were very confident we could match, if not exceed, our transaction activity from 2019. But now any attempt to accurately predict what the remainder of 2020 might hold for either our team or our industry is difficult.

Overall, property types are performing roughly as we might anticipate. Industrial and multifamily have fared well so far, while leisure, hospitality, and retail are struggling. What we have seen so far with April collections has exceeded our expectations, but the multifamily industry’s ability to continue to collect rents into May and beyond will be imperative to the industry’s long-term success.

While we are maintaining optimism and thinking the bulk of the damage will be to this quarter’s numbers, we wouldn’t bet against those who believe this could carry well into Q3 or even beyond. We do see long-term positive indicators for multifamily and are hopeful for this downturn to be brief with momentum reestablishing next quarter.

While the current market may seem to be a no-go, transactions are still occurring. From an advisory standpoint, we are providing clients with real time information, asking questions, giving feedback, and offering words of encouragement to help them make the best decisions for their business and their partners.

Working In the New Normal

The shift to working from home has certainly been an adjustment, but a smooth process overall. We are not complaining about the occasional poolside conference call. But in all seriousness, it can be challenging to create new routines and work toward new daily goals. One definite upside? Communication with teams is even stronger than when we were all in the office.

Our Mid Markets Team—made up of investment sales, mortgage banking and servicing specialists throughout the Midwest—has become even more collaborative during this time. We are doing more to stay connected, keep a pulse on the market, and share valuable data real-time so that we can most effectively counsel our clients.

The time we used to spend commuting is now time we are spending virtually connecting with coworkers, clients, friends, and family. We are learning more about the people in our lives every day and it is comforting to know that we are all going through this together.

Where We Go Now

All-in-all we need to listen—sometimes without providing answers—and make peace with the fact that there are many factors we cannot control. We can take solace in knowing that this too shall pass.

We should also explore how to give back to the communities around us. Those of us who are fortunate enough to still have our jobs and our health simply cannot take it for granted. We can all find meaningful ways to help and we should act on them immediately. Soon enough, we’ll be back in the “norm,” but for now, it’s important to embrace the “new.”