A world-class aquarium at the Kansas City Zoo will bring the ocean to the Midwest by enhancing visitors’ experience with new pathways to ocean conservation, education and research. Pacific Reef rendering credit: El Dorado, Inc.
Be Inspired: AIA Kansas City Design Excellence Awards
With new tenants and timeline, Mission Gateway seeks financial partner
Mission Gateway has landed a 90,000-square foot destination entertainment tenant that “will be like nothing in the Kansas City market.” That’s the word from Tom Valenti of The Cameron Group, which is redeveloping the former Mission Center Mall site in partnership with GFI Development.
“The lease is signed. These are seasoned operators, with six units throughout the country, mostly in the south. They know what they are doing,” Valenti said of the unnamed tenant.
The concept will be an ideal complement to the 40,000-square foot food hall concept celebrity “Top Chef” Tom Colicchio is bringing to Mission Gateway and comes as plans for an Element by Westin hotel are being finalized.
“These new tenants have caused us to accelerate our business plan,” said Andy Ashwal of GFI Development. “We originally told the City (of Mission) we will build in phases, but we will now go ahead with the entire project.”
The new timeline also is accelerating the need for working capital.
“We just finished the offering memorandum to go out and raise money,” Valenti said. “We’ve hired Mission Capital to put together a capital stack that will add up to $140- $150 million for the entire project. That way we can move forward all at once.”
Mission Gateway’s first phase began last fall and includes 170 market-rate apartment units located above ground-floor retail in three buildings. Neighbors Construction is expected to complete the multifamily portion of the project in April 2020.
Fogel-Anderson Construction Co. is serving as construction manager for the entire redevelopment project at Johnson Drive and Shawnee Mission Parkway.
El Dorado, Inc. designed the overall master plan. NSPJ is architect of record for the Element hotel.
Fogel-Anderson will manage Mission Gateway construction project, timetable
Fogel-Anderson Construction Co. has been named Construction Manager for the long-awaited Mission Gateway redevelopment project at Johnson Drive and Shawnee Mission Parkway, marking a departure from the typical General Contractor model.
“The complexities of Mission Gateway and our determination to use the best in class contractors led us to utilize a construction manager over a single prime general contractor,” said Tom Valenti of The Cameron Group, which is co-developing Mission Gateway with GFI Development Company. “We believe that Fogel-Anderson Construction, with their more than 100 years of experience in the Kansas City market, will enable us to deliver a development that residents of the area will be proud to live, work, play and stay in.”
Emery Sapp & Sons began site preparation in September, setting the stage for the first phase of construction that includes apartments, building pad sites and public road improvements. Future phases include a hotel, office building, 40,000-square foot food hall, and destination entertainment venue, all slated for delivery in 2021.
“Mission Gateway has a number of moving parts that are interrelated. Fogel-Anderson’s role as Construction Manager is to build and maintain the master budget, schedule, and plan the logistics of the entire development,” said Roger Summers, Fogel-Anderson vice president. “As construction ramps up on the separate buildings, our team will coordinate the activities of dozens of prime and subcontractors working on site.”
Neighbors Construction will serve as General Contractor for Mission Gateway’s first vertical construction, a multifamily-over-retail building adjacent to a parking garage. Located on the development’s north side along Shawnee Mission Parkway, the residential portion of the project is targeted for a spring 2020 completion.
Kansas City-based architecture design firm El Dorado, Inc. designed the overall master plan.