This week’s MWM Broker Spotlight shines a light on Monica Enloe with Clemons Real Estate

RT (Rachel Treanor):  What was your lightbulb moment to get into commercial real estate?

ME (Monica Enloe): Prior to entering real estate, I spent almost 15 years doing philanthropic fundraising. My light bulb moment was looking around the board room one day and realizing that the people who consistently showed up with both time and money were in Commercial Real Estate. After digging in a bit, I realized that the flexibility and earning potential were worth the risk of leaving a stable career to pursue a new path. 

RT: Who is your mentor and why?

ME: I'm fortunate to have landed with Clemons Real Estate and work with Audrey Navarro. Not only is she incredibly knowledgeable about real estate, the collaborative and flexible approach to structuring deals has taught me a lot. I've also been fortunate to meet several fabulous collaborators and mentors through WIRED (Women in Real Estate Development) such as Sheryl Vickers, Joanna Shaver and Holly Mills —all of whom have helped me talk through challenges and brainstormed solutions. 

RT: Who do you mentor?

ME: I mentor small businesses on the leasing process. Many of them are not familiar with the difference between a residential and commercial lease in terms of their responsibility as a tenant. It is so important to share this information up front so expectations are managed and there is no confusion and unexpected costs later.

RT: What gets you excited to get to work every day?

ME: There are no days that are the same. Ultimately, I love that I feel like I am helping people make their dreams come to life. Whether it’s achieving wealth through passive income, buying a building for a growing business, or opening a retail store they’ve dreamed of for years—it’s exciting to be part of the process.

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

MT: From a micro-perspective, there are so many details that need to be overseen and taken care of to ensure the transaction goes smoothly with no surprises (which there always are!). On the macro level, our uncertain times causes stress around how the market will shift and how I can be nimble and flexible enough to shift with it and have consistent income for my family.

RT: Tell us about your current projects.

MT: My favorite projects right now are directly related to creating more walkable districts in the urban core. Union Hill is one of my favorite neighborhoods in KC and it has been exciting to add tenants like Oh! Café and Mayweather Fitness to the mix with more coming soon. I am also working on several projects on Troost and can’t wait to see them come to life. It’s a fabulous corridor with plans to hosts a mix of nonprofits, museums, restaurants, offices, and apartments. Main Street is another passion project with the street car expansion coming soon. I have several available spaces for lease that would be ideal for hair/nail salons, retail, dry cleaners, arts, and fitness users- -the possibilities are endless with the diversity of spaces available including in the newly renovated Monarch and Netherlands buildings at 39th and Main.

RT: What deal do you wish for in your future portfolio?

ME: I’d love to bring a new grocery store to midtown and have several properties that would be perfect for it!

RT: What leads do you look for?

ME: There are two categories of leads I focus on. First are building owners who want to reposition their buildings either to sell or to find new and fresh tenants. I love old buildings and watching them come back to life with historically relevant renovations is exciting. Second, are buyers and tenants with creative vision. Having clients that share my love for historic buildings but are more creative than me is entertaining and fuels my motivation to get the deal done.

RT: How can prospects contact you for more information?

ME: Connect with me on LinkedIn—I consistently post about local real estate topics and love to connect with others in the industry. Or reach out via email to set up a coffee: monica@clemonsrealestate.com

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Staying true to MetroWire Media’s focus on all things commercial real estate, we have added this as a new, feature column - MWM's BROKER SPOTLIGHT. The goal is to provide our readers with direct insight to Kansas City’s brightest, up-and-coming CRE brokers. Discover the true brains behind the build - including their professional focus, career paths, future plans, goals and more.

Know a broker worthy of the Broker Spotlight? Send details to kcnews@metrowiremedia.com.

Lee's Summit Medical Center expands campus, services

Cushman & Wakefield’s Andrew Greene and Leonard Popplewell hosted a broker tour of the newly constructed 52,000-SF medical office building this week, located on the campus of the Lee’s Summit Medical Center in Lee's Summit, Mo.

Developed and owned by Healthpeak Properties, Inc. of Franklin Tenn., HCA-Lee’s Summit Medical Center’s physicians’ groups will occupy the first and third floors and begin seeing patients in September 2020.

Kansas City medical office brokers toured the building's second floor, which includes 17,000 SF available for lease, a 1,500-SF spec suite and 5,000 SF for lease on the third floor.

“This multimillion dollar expansion represents an investment in the high-quality, comprehensive specialty care that we are committed to providing our community. It will allow Lee’s Summit Medical Center to expand the services we offer to the area we serve. It is yet another milestone in our continued growth within the community by bringing in more medical specialties while allowing us to provide space for existing specialties to grow," said John McDonald, Lee’s Summit Medical Center’s president.

Owner/developer Healthpeak Properties also owns medical office buildings on the campuses of Centerpoint Medical Center in Indeoendence, Mo. and Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, Kan.

What's in store for Hunt Midwest's StorTropolis?

Hunt Midwest continues to expand StorTropolis, its brand of state-of-the-art, climate controlled self-storage facilities throughout the Kansas City metro.

The developer has opened a 138,000-SF facility at 3140 Northwest Jefferson Street in Blue Springs, Mo. and begun construction on its fifth area StorTropolis location on a five-acre site near K-10 and Woodland Road in Lenexa, Kan.

Hunt Midwest entered the self-storage development industry in 2018 and, in partnership with Strickland Construction, has successfully built and opened three additional StorTropolis facilities – StorTropolis Brighton and StorTropolis Tiffany Springs in Kansas City, Mo; and StorTropolis Shawnee in Shawnee, Kan.

“Increasing demand for high-quality self-storage units fueled by a demographically diverse customer base presented the ideal opportunity for Hunt Midwest to invest in the resilient and fast-growing self-storage industry,” said Doug Coleman, vice president of acquisitions and investments for Hunt Midwest.

Each three-story StorTropolis building ranges in size from 104,000 - 138,000 SF and offers 580 - 760 climate-controlled storage units.

StorTropolis also offers various sized units, from five-feet by five-feet to ten-feet by thirty-feet, in addition to enclosed parking units large enough to accommodate RV storage. They feature a clean, secured environment with drive-through access to fully enclosed, indoor loading and unloading areas; elevators; and gated storage entry accessible 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

The latest technology is used to monitor temperature and humidity levels of storage buildings and provides 24-hour video surveillance throughout the property.

StorTropolis emerged as an industry leader in 2018 when it became the first facility in the metro to offer contactless unit rental. Its interactive website allows customers to view available units, compare pricing, and complete the leasing process with the click of a button.

All locations include an onsite leasing office open six days a week for customers to lease units via phone or in-person. For added convenience, a customer service call center is also available 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

StorTropolis is operated by Storage Asset Management (SAM), a privately owned, third party management company that specializes in self-storage.

“We’re thrilled to provide leasing and property management services for StorTropolis locations throughout the metro,” said Melissa Stiles, vice president of marketing and sales for SAM.

“These high-quality facilities feature a variety of self-storage solutions and modern amenities in a climate controlled atmosphere that customers are looking for. Our knowledgeable onsite property managers are committed to providing StorTropolis patrons the highest level of customer service and are dedicated to getting involved and giving back to the local community,” Stiles said.

In addition to the opening of StorTropolis Blue Springs, StorTropolis Lenexa is anticipated to open summer 2021. The 111,000-SF facility will offer 760 storage units, including 15 enclosed parking units for RV storage.

Autodesk acquires AI-powered software

Autodesk, Inc. has completed the acquisition of Pype and its portfolio of cloud-based software solutions for the construction industry.

This acquisition and resulting product integrations will provide additional value for Autodesk Construction Cloud users, allowing general contractors, subcontractors and owners to automate workflows such as submittals and project closeout to increase overall productivity and reduce risk throughout the project lifecycle.

Pype’s solutions use artificial intelligence and machine learning to extract and process data from project plans and specifications. The resulting data provides unprecedented insights on project management workflows, helps teams identify actionable information to close communication gaps between design, construction and operations teams, and ensures a higher level of quality, efficiency and risk management on projects.

Pype marks Autodesk’s fourth construction-based acquisition in recent years, joining the acquisitions of Assemble in July 2018, PlanGrid in December 2018 and BuildingConnected in January 2019.

“We are thrilled to officially welcome the Pype team to Autodesk,” said Jim Lynch, vice president and general manager of Autodesk Construction Solutions at Autodesk.

“Pype’s machine learning capabilities can be applied to multiple field and office workflows, and directly supports our aim to consistently provide customers with the most advanced construction project management technology. The acquisition of Pype is representative of our ongoing commitment to the construction industry, and our continued vision of how cloud-based, collaborative technology can drive the era of connected construction,” Lynch said.

Autodesk plans to integrate Pype within its Autodesk Construction Cloud portfolio, which encompasses best-in-class solutions Assemble, BIM 360, BuildingConnected and PlanGrid. Pype’s product suite includes:

• AutoSpecs: Automates a highly manual process, using AI to quickly read and extract specs to generate submittal logs with a high level of accuracy

• Closeout: Accelerates the construction closeout process via an easy-to-use, centralized dashboard and automated document collection

• eBinder: Automatically converts hundreds of closeout documents into a fully indexed, hyperlinked and searchable turnover file

• SmartPlans: Extracts submittals, product schedules and contract compliance requirements from drawings

“Pype’s mission was always to help construction teams avoid seemingly ubiquitous challenges facing a document-intensive industry – inefficient workflows, disjointed collaboration, schedule delays, cost overruns and more,” said Sunil Dorairajan, CEO and co-founder of Pype.

The transaction was subject to customary closing conditions and occurred during Autodesk’s third quarter of fiscal 2021, ending October 31, 2020. The acquisition will have no material impact on fiscal year 2021 guidance presented on June 3, 2020.

Straub Construction celebrates 100 years building KC communities

Straub Construction is celebrating 100 years as a Kansas City community cornerstone this week while simultaneously unveiling a new company brand in honor of its centennial anniversary.

The rebranded identity and tagline - Believe in What You Build - is an appropriate reflection of Straub’s devoted partnerships and decades over decades of building a long-standing, successful construction firm.

“Our new brand reflects our focus on building communities. As a building leader who advocates for a healthier, more fulfilled community, we focus on creating partnerships with purpose-driven clients who share our vision to serve others,” said Ernie Straub III, chairman & CEO.

Ernest J. Straub, Sr. began the journey in 1920 building churches, schools and homes in the Mission Hills, Kan. area. One hundred years later, Straub Construction continues to carry on his legacy of building Kansas City communities through structures that serve others.

Impactful community projects, such as the revitalization of the Crossroads Art District neighborhood’s Corrigan Station and The Creamery Building; new Science City exhibits in Union Station; the Edgar Berkley residence, the residence of Henry Sophian and the remodel of the Stover Mansion, a beloved Mission Hills landmark, are just a few included in the firm's impressive portfolio.

“We measure our success by the lives we impact, not revenue. By 2028, we’ll impact at least 120,000 families weekly with the structures we’ve built, and we’re hoping to grow that number," said Dan VanDonge, vice president of operations for Straub.

Straub’s legacy continues to date; with current and recently completed construction projects such as the Avila Goppert Performing Arts Center, Park University Plaster Center, Ft. Leavenworth Transient Barracks and the St. Elizabeth Catholic School & Parish.

“We advocate for our clients at every step in the construction process; not because it earns more dollars, but because it drives this larger purpose forward,” said Parker Young, Straub president.

Headquartered in Shawnee, Kan., Straub Construction also has an office in the Crossroads Arts District in Kansas City, Mo.