Platform Ventures hopes to maximize I-49 multimodal opportunities

At the monthly virtual presentation hosted by the CCIM Kansas City chapter last Friday, Corey Walker, senior vice president with Platform Ventures, offered insight about the I-49 Industrial Center.

Platform Ventures purchased approximately 180 acres of the development, located on the site of the former Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base, from CenterPoint Properties in July 2019. The air force base was decommissioned and closed in 1999.

After the decommission, Kansas City Southern, Port KC and CenterPoint each acquired a portion of the property. CenterPoint commenced developing a business park in 2007 named CenterPoint Intermodal Center. CenterPoint, headquartered in Illinois, left the Kansas City market in 2019.

Walker said that at the time Platform Ventures acquired the development, CenterPoint had developed approximately one-third of the property and had leases with Walmart, Honeywell, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Sioux Chief Manufacturing and Niagara Bottling LLC.

Walker said Platform Ventures is in the process of adding approximately 60 acres of adjacent land to the industrial park.

Platform Ventures recently completed a rebranding of the site, renaming it I-49 Industrial Center. CBRE is assisting with marketing strategy.

“We thought it needed a fresh makeover,” Walker said.

“The remaining land has a potential for another 2 million SF of Class-A industrial warehouse space and that number could go north with a lot of the tenants that we’re seeing. They have a footprint that they’re now wanting mezzanine structures and potentially multi-floors within the facility which will add to the square footage,” said Walker.

Walker said Platform Ventures was attracted to the site because of the extensive infrastructure already in place, including roads, utilities and adjacent rail, as well as a great labor market.

“As part of our strategy with the multimodal concept, we really wanted to work with our neighbors, especially Kansas City Southern, so we’ve been working with them in concert now for really over a year to figure out ways to really maximize the opportunities for multimodal,” Walker said.

Platform Ventures currently is working on a 366,000-SF, spec building designed for up to four tenants.

“It’s tilt-up concrete, 36 foot clear height ceilings. We’re in the design and entitlement process on that. We’re pretty excited about some of the interest we’re starting to receive on just some of the initial discussions we’ve had,” Walker said.

Platform Ventures also is working with Kansas City Southern on a 300,000 SF bulk freight multimodal distribution facility on the site, with approximately 200,000 SF of outdoor space. The rail line actually goes into the building and into the storage yard.

“Semis and trucks come in the other side and take the product out to the region,” Walker said.

Walker said that Platform Ventures is working with a Fortune 500 company, and the facility is in the final entitlement stages and in design development.

“Both of these projects are moving forward but have a lot of wood to chop, but hopefully if things go well, maybe we’ll start moving dirt in Q1 of 2021,” said Walker.

Walker said activity has been very strong at the park. Platform Ventures has been proactive in pursuing large build-to-suit tenants, but they also want to have square footage available for smaller tenants and tenants requiring shorter build out time frames.

Walker said that Platform Ventures is “fairly bullish” going into 2021, particularly in light of the heavy demand for industrial space in the Kansas City area and the low vacancy rates for industrial space.

“There’s just not a lot of sites in town that can support 500 to 1 million SF industrial facilities so that bodes well for our project,” he said.

JLL's Anné Erickson shares, reimagines what's next for CRE

In this week’s MWM Broker Spotlight, we’re featuring a bright and talented commercial real estate associate in the Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Kansas City office - meet Anné Erickson. Erickson maintains a strong passion in her CRE career by bringing together different ideas, people and companies - all in an effort to benefit her clients.

Erickson grew up in the real estate business watching her family invest in real estate across the KC metro since the day US Route 69 came through their family farm just southwest of Corporate Woods. This experience fascinated Erickson, especially from a business perspective of value generation in owning properties and the development activities that took place thereafter.

RT: Tell us more about you and your career, Anné! What first sparked your interest in commercial real estate?

AE: Early in my career, I worked overseas directing investment research projects on emerging global economies. No matter the country, real estate was a central part of this work and how foreign investors can invest in the construction and real estate sector. Like many who were involved in our family real estate through the years, it is to no one’s surprise that I landed my career in commercial real estate.

RT: What excites you about your day-to-day career?

AE: Being let in ‘under the tent’ with clients and prospects. I focus my business in tenant representation, working with the actual company leasing or purchasing property. My job is to understand what my clients are going through from an operational standpoint to identify commercial real estate solutions that will compliment and impact their business plans. It’s not just about finding them a space; it’s about using real estate as a tool to advance their business. The diversity of getting to know different leaders and business sectors in Kansas City keeps it fresh and exciting to me.

RT: What leads do you look for?

AE: I represent businesses looking for real estate. Our team is the tenant representation leader in Kansas City because of our strengths in occupancy planning and financial analysis. And yes, being a rare female in a male-dominated industry, it’s always fun to work with Kansas City’s incredible women-owned businesses!

RT: Can you share how you keep your skills sharp in this competitive industry?

AE: It is important to focus on what skills are unique to you and your team and become the expert in your focus area. The pandemic has made this even more important as businesses are looking to us to figure out what is next. I specialize in occupancy planning as it impacts employee attraction, retention, morale, and overall business effectiveness with office users. In addition to the basic cost of real estate, there are very substantial monetary impacts related to employee productivity, satisfaction and attrition that have a direct relationship with the work environment.

These topics need to also be addressed and considered in the real estate analysis because a 10% increase in workplace staff productivity or a lowering of employee attrition by 5% often can have far more financial impact on your bottom line than saving $0.50 off your base rent.

RT: What’s your vision and advice for a successful CRE industry moving forward?

AE: We can no longer look to the past to understand how business success will be achieved in the future. Every organization must examine the priority areas of their business and begin to “reimagine’ all aspects of business in the context of the new normal. C-Suite teams who successfully reimagine business today will be tomorrow’s business leaders.

I expect the Kansas City real estate market will rebound likely faster than many larger cities in the US. I believe that will be in part because of our diversified economy which helps insolate us from as much market volatility. As well, given the nature of the COVID environment, many companies today have realized the benefits of having a larger and less dense city to conduct operations.

Employees are redefining work and re-entry on their own terms. Business leaders need to redefine the role of their traditional workplace. Workers need to be confident in their health and wellness before they return.

We understand the vast majority of office employees around the country are looking for a hybrid office/work from home situation post-pandemic. Therefore, the office place will continue to play a substantial role in innovation, collaboration and culture creation.

RT: How can prospects contact you for more information?

Anné Erickson

M: 913-220-3636

D: 913-469-4657

Anne.Erickson@am.jll.com

linkedin.com/in/anne-erickson

7500 College Boulevard, Suite 920

Thrasher to build new HQ at Southlake Office Park

Construction has begun on a new KC office headquarters for Thrasher Foundation Repair, a midwest foundation repair company, at Southlake Office Park in Lenexa, Kan.

The five-acre site, acquired from developer City+Ventures, is located near I-35 and Renner Blvd. and will serve as Thrasher’s new, 25,000-SF Kansas City headquarters, providing both office and warehouse space.

“Southlake Office Park continues to see significant momentum and interest from a variety of users,” said Chris Erickson, co-founder of City+Ventures.

“The demand for quality space in a prime location such as this is driving market activity for the region. We enthusiastically welcome Thrasher and are excited for the future of Southlake.”

JLL, who represents City+Ventures at Southlake, plans for investing in new building amenities, providing Class-A common areas and tenant finishes and developing the interior land sites with complimentary uses for the existing office tenants.

Southlake has additional land available for purchase, ranging from three to 15 acres or for build-to-suit opportunities. This is the second tract sold at the Southlake Office Park this year, following JLL’s completed sale of a 3.6-acre site for a new VA clinic in January 2020.

Southlake offers a variety of options for businesses with both Class A and B office offerings, flex space for companies requiring warehouse or loading capabilities, and 45 acres for development. The park has an on-site daycare center, on-site management office, the Lenexa Conference Center and the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce, and is strategically located in the center of Johnson County with easy access to I-35, I-435 and K-10 Highways.

Current amenities include three miles of walking trails, 10 well-stocked ponds, redundant high-speed fiber and dual power feeds. New amenities and upgrades to the properties have commenced construction this year, including Class-A common areas and tenant finishes, new monument signage for the entire park, new exterior painting of the Tech Center buildings, updated landscaping and the development of interior land sites with complimentary uses for the existing office tenants.

The design/construction team for Thrasher Foundation Repair project is comprised of Ryan Companies, TACK Architecture and Sidekick Development.

Established in 1975, Thrasher Foundation Repair is a part of Thrasher Group and does basement waterproofing, foundation repair, and concrete repair based out of Omaha, Neb., with regional locations in Wichita, Kansas City, Des Moines, Sioux City and Grand Island.

For more information about Southlake Office Park properties, please contact RJ Trowbridge at rj.trowbridge@am.jll.com.

The project, which is currently under construction, has an anticipated completion date of Q3 2021.