“We’re definitely mission-driven. Everything that we are engaged in is for the community, by the community, or has been initiated as part of the community,” said Emmet Pierson, Jr., president and CEO of Community Builders of Kansas City (CBKC).
Pierson, the featured speaker at a luncheon hosted by KC Downtowners last week, discussed some of the past, current and future projects of CBKC. Initially tasked as a community outreach arm of Swope Park Health Center (now known as Swope Health), CBKC is the largest nonprofit economic developer in the region, with a staff of approximately 200 people working in its various ventures.
According to Pierson, when Swope Park Health Center sought to build a drug treatment facility on Kansas City’s east side, it met resistance from the community. In return for approval for the drug treatment facility, CBKC agreed to build a grocery store, create housing, bring in a day care center, build office space, create jobs, and fix the flooding issue that was plaguing Blue Parkway, now known as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. From 1993 until three or four years ago, Pierson said CBKC made good on what it called the Mt. Cleveland Initiative.
Today, The Shops on Blue Parkway, part of a 155,000 SF mixed-use project, boasts national retail stores and restaurants, including a grocery store, and has more than a 90 percent occupancy. CBKC owns the shopping center as well as the grocery store, which recently was branded KC Sun Fresh on the Boulevard.
CBKC stepped into the grocery business in 2020 when the original operator decided to retire and CBKC was unable to locate another operator. Pierson said that the grocery industry generally is very tough, but even more so within urban Kansas City.
“Please understand that we were not trying to get into the grocery business. We understand real estate development. We had to teach ourselves the grocery business. We were concerned selfishly with this location because a lot of our national leases are tied to the grocery store,” he said.
CBKC also owns and operates a second grocery store at Linwood Boulevard and Prospect Avenue.
“Even with these stores, we’re still in a food desert,” said Pierson.
In 2023, CBKC completed a $13 million renovation of The Cleveland, initially built as Mt. Cleveland Heights and Mt. Cleveland Townhomes, with all affordable units.
The 80-unit project now has both low-income and market-rate units. The renovation was done without any new money from the city, Pierson said.
Another recent project Pierson highlighted is The Rochester located on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, a 64-unit project, which was completed in 2022 and is 92 to 93 percent leased.
“This is the first market-rate project that is east of Troost . . . since I was a kid,” said Pierson.
Above: The main entry to the Offices of Overlook is proposed to provide three Class A office buildings to the area. Image credit: Hufft
Based on the success of The Rochester, development is underway to build 146 units of housing within what will be the Overlook District, a $100 million, 11-acre mixed-use development. Site improvement work has been completed for the mixed-income residential project, which soon will go vertical. A total of 155 units of housing are in plans.
“There is a market for people who want to live on the east side,” Pierson said.
In addition to housing, the Overlook District will feature what Pierson hopes eventually will be three Class A office buildings, called the Offices at Overlook. The Health Forward Foundation, in its capacity as a part owner and occupant of the first office building, will occupy one-third of the total 60,000 SF. Pierson said the building will go vertical within the next 30 days.
“This is the only Class A office building built in the last 20 years,” he said.
In 2021, CBKC acquired the Adam’s Mark Hotel & Conference Center as part of the health and wellness component of its strategic plan.
“It’s a great site, and it’s a terrible site. It’s a great site because it has great visibility. When the Chiefs and Royals are going to be there, all the highways come right to it. But it’s also a terrible site because it’s on an island. So how do we begin to draw people to that island,” said Pierson.
CBKC plans to repurpose the former CoCo Key Resort, which it acquired along with the adjacent Adam’s Mark Hotel, into a pickleball destination to be called SW19 at the Stadium. The project, currently under construction, will be the first pickleball venue in eastern Jackson County and will feature eight indoor pickleball courts, a bar, a restaurant, and VIP rooms. Pierson said CBKC, who is partnering on the project with the owners of SW19 Tennis and Pickleball in Leawood, Kansas, hopes to have the pickleball courts operating by early fall.
Although Adam’s Mark has not operated as a hotel since March 2020, Pierson said CBKC keeps all of the utilities functioning to satisfy insurance requirements, and all of the furniture is still on site.
CBKC is evaluating how to repurpose the hotel tower.
“We think it’s going to be a combination of hospitality, small hospitality, with some mixed-income housing. We’re probably going to demo the last two floors and sell those as condos because they’ve got fantastic views,” Pierson said.
In the meantime, CBKC allows Army Rangers, Navy SEALS, police, SWAT teams, and federal marshals to use the building as a training ground.
Header image credit: Marcia Charney