Diversity reigns for K-State multicultural center project

When Hollis + Miller was engaged to design the new Morris Family Multicultural Student Center for Kansas State University – a space for campus organizations to advance student diversity, social justice and inclusion – the firm gathered a unique team of architects and designers to lead the project.

That team was not only composed of several women, but of diverse professionals who bring a unique perspective of their own. According to Hollis + Miller staff, that type of team in the architecture field is often rare, even in spite of recent progress.

“The project was not only a pleasure but also a blessing for me. Having varied backgrounds made for an easier mental setting. We kept questioning, kept pushing each other and pushing the limits. And being all different helped us identify the goals the client had,” said Ishita Banerjii, a project architect at Hollis + Miller.

One recent survey found that while women comprise about half of architecture graduates, they make up only 20% of licensed architects working in the field. Yet, the unique perspective of the women on the KSU project team – and the diverse backgrounds they come from – led to a more inclusive perspective.

When finished, the new center – set to open this November – will occupy 13,000 SF and serve as the official home for the university’s more than thirty multicultural organizations, serving around 4,000 students. The multicultural center will encourage pedestrian interaction, and will create natural pathways from the rest of campus.

In addition to Banerjii, the Hollis + Miller team included Nicole Rezai (senior interiors), Michelle Iwig-Harmon (structural) and Gabby Coleman (junior architect) among several others. Coleman was able to first contribute to the project while still an architecture student at K-State, when she was asked to provide feedback from a student’s perspective.

“This building represents something more than even the space it will provide. I remember there was this outcry for ways the university could show they were really invested in the experience of students of color. It was just exciting to see the university commit to not only the building, but what it stood for,” Coleman said.

Melanie Luthi, a senior project engineer at McCownGordon, the firm leading the construction on the project, is also involved on the project.

“I have a mixed-race family of my own, and knowing that students and faculty – both past and current – worked so hard to bring to campus a safe and prosperous environment for students like my own children gave me the extra energy and focus to get through a challenging COVID-19 environment to deliver this project timely and with the utmost attention to craft and detail,” Luthi said.

The team is excited for the completion of the project and what it will mean for the current and future students.

“It will make a difference for the next generation,” Banerjii said. “They will feel more comfortable in their own skin. This project has been very inspiring for me.”

Office, retail plans emerge to replace former Macy's

A massive, mixed-use vision has emerged for a state-of-the-art renovation to transform the empty Macy’s at 7000 Mission Road in Prairie Village, Kan.

Maryland-based First Washington Realty (FWR) plans to create a 120,000 SF, multi-tenant anchor space for the three-story building, which has sat empty since fall 2019.

The proposed redevelopment includes two levels of retail on Levels 1 and 2. The Offices of the Village would occupy Level 3 and include nearly 39,000 SF of space which can be demised down to as low as 11,000 SF, according to Mike Levitan and Tim Schaffer with AREA Real Estate Advisors, who are leading the office leasing efforts. Depending upon the configuration, tenants would also have access to their own private outdoor terraces.

The new development plans highlight the built-in convenience of dozens of nearby restaurants, retail and grocery shops, salons, a florist, banks and more. Only footsteps away are Tavern in the Village, Dolce Bakery, Cafe Provence, Hen House, TCBY and Rise Biscuits & Donuts, to name a few.

FWR currently owns 103 shopping areas valued at over $5.5 billion in 22 states. Local shopping centers include Brookside Shops, Corinth Square North, Shops at Fairway, Shops of Prairie Village and coming soon - Corinth Quarter.

According to minutes from the Oct. 5, 2020 Prairie Village city council meeting, representatives from First Washington Realty met with Prairie Village mayor Eric Mikkelson and city staff to discuss how the former department store space could be utilized.

If passed, the proposal estimates a completion date for the renovation by spring 2021.

GCG's Sara Greenwood talks sustainability

This week’s broker spotlight showcases a different kind of broker - one who brokers environmental excellence, sustainable business practices and climate services for businesses across the Kansas City metro.

With over sixteen years of experience, Sara Greenwood, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP + WELL FACULTY, is a sustainability consultant with Greenwood Consulting Group (GCG). Greenwood helps teams manage the certification process to achieve their performance goals.

GCG, certified as a Women’s Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) in Kansas and Missouri, is working on the following projects:

Kansas City Airport, Grand Place (former KC Star Building), NextGen Building at the University of Missouri Columbia, St. Luke’s South Rehabilitation Institute, Johnson County Medical Examiner Building, Georgia Aquarium expansion, 9800 Metcalf Office Building, Brookridge Development and several K-12, multifamily and warehouse projects located coast to coast.

In this week’s MWM Broker Spotlight, Greenwood shares her passion and unique perspective behind emerging green building practices and technologies - especially interesting for clients pursuing green building certification and sustainable business initiatives.

RT:  What was your lightbulb moment to get into commercial real estate?

SG: When I see projects come to fruition and the building occupants are bragging about the sustainable building features that I worked hard to implement. I was in an elevator of a multifamily building in Anaheim next to a mom who was telling me she just moved into this building from down the street because she saw that it was LEED Certified and her child has asthma and she really wanted to ensure a healthy home environment.

RT (Rachel Treanor):  What gets you excited to get to work every day?

SG (Sara Greenwood): The diversity in my projects really inspires me to work each day. Also, I have a personal affinity for projects that benefit children and disadvantaged people in our community. I love to watch projects evolve from a design on paper through construction to completion. Then to attain a certification target because of my consulting expertise is very fulfilling!

RT:  What keeps you up at night about commercial real estate?

SG: Politics. Cuts on incentives to implement green building performance measures.

RT:  What does a Kansas City CRE Comeback look like to you?

SG: More emphasis on the health of building occupants and awareness that buildings impact our lives daily. People spend more than 90% of their time indoors. It is crucial to consider building health when we are talking about our own health.

RT: How can prospects contact you for more information?

SG: Sara@GreenwoodCG.com Cell: 415-602-9220 and our website is www.GreenwoodCG.com

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CBKC awarded $800,000 grant for Blue Parkway Sun Fresh

Emmet Pierson, Jr., chief executive officer of Community Builders of Kansas City (CBKC), announced this week that the organization has received an $800,000 grant from the Office of Community Services (OCS) to serve job retention and creation for Blue Parkway Sun Fresh.

CBKC became the owner / operator of the grocery store - one of the few full-service supermarkets east of Prospect Avenue - in June of this year.

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt and U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II were instrumental in supporting CBKC’s application for the OCS grant. Rep. Cleaver participated in a ceremonial check presentation at an outdoor concert of Kansas City Symphony musicians hosted by CBKC last weekend.

“At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is causing organizations to shed jobs by the thousands, CBKC has an opportunity to not only keep and add jobs but do so in a critically underserved community. The fact that this allows us to grow a grocery asset in what otherwise would be another urban food desert is especially gratifying,” Pierson said.

Blue Parkway Sun Fresh currently has more than 60 employees, the majority of whom live in the same or adjacent zip codes.

This OCS grant followed a $500,000 city of Kansas City, Mo. grant received from the office of Neighborhoods & Housing Services. The city’s grant, part of monies funded to combat local effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, will enable CBKC to add online grocery ordering and pick-up services at Blue Parkway Sun Fresh.

“Blue Parkway Sun Fresh already has a great leadership team with John King as store manager and others like Michelle Mitchell of the Stapleton family, whose grandfather Leon Stapleton owned what is thought to have been the oldest black-owned grocery store in the country until it closed in 2019. We are developing the most modern of supermarkets with the warmest, most old-school customer service, Pierson said.

Unrelated to the grocery, another recently received COVID-19 grant from Neighborhoods & Housing Services for $592,000 will enable CBKC, in partnership with the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation (HEDC), to expand services at the Blue Hills Executive Center. Pierson said HEDC will provide technical assistance at the Center, housed in the CBKC-owned 5008 Prospect building, to minority and women entrepreneurs as they look to reposition or start a business in the COVID and post-COVID era.

“We are pleased to see the growth in national attention and funding coming to CBKC projects. With the $100,000 JPMorgan Chase grant last year and this most recent OCS grant, we hope it is just the tip of the iceberg of new, national equity finding value in what CBKC is working to accomplish for Kansas City’s black and brown communities,” Pierson said.