Twin Creeks Village infrastructure breaks ground

The North Platte Purchase Drive, Line Creek Parkway, and North Tiffany Springs Road improvements broke ground yesterday in Kansas City, MO.

McClure, MD Management, Superior Bowen, and the City of Kansas City are working together to complete an infrastructure project that will open up the adjacent ground for development opportunities within the Twin Creeks Village area.

“With today’s transportation infrastructure groundbreaking, the City of Kansas City, Missouri will see opportunities for growth in population, property tax base, and sales tax,” said Alicia Stephens, executive director of the Platte County EDC.

“Our Northland TIF’s do exactly what is intended—fund our infrastructure," Stephens said.

The project, led by MD Management, consists of an extension of Line Creek Parkway and Tiffany Springs Road, North Platte Purchase Drive improvements and sanitary sewer extensions throughout the area. These improvements will facilitate the development of a new sports complex, future development of Platte County R-3 School District facilities, as well as new commercial and residential development areas.

"This project has been a long time coming, and it’s good to finally see it kick-off,” said Councilman Dan Fowler. “I’m very excited about the opportunities it will bring, not only to the Northland, but to the entire city,” Fowler added.

“Today, we are taking steps to bring positive enhancements to this community,” said Erika Feingold, VP of MD Management. “We are fortunate to be able to form a productive public/private partnership with the City to produce an area that will be home to educational, recreational, and commercial endeavors,” Feingold said.

This is the first step towards the full realization of the Twin Creeks Plan, the largest planned growth area in Kansas City.

Sprint campus sale, new DT office tower among most anticipated CRE events of 2019

The expected sale of Sprint's 4 million square foot Overland Park campus will be a bellwether event for the Kansas City regional commercial real estate market in 2019. That's the consensus from panelists at MetroWire Media's KC Market Forecast held Jan. 8, at Johnson County Community College. The event was moderated by Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC) President and CEO Tim Cowden.

"It's going to have a monumental impact. We're talking about 25 percent of the KC office market trading hands in 2019," said Mike Klamm, Managing Director for CBRE's Kansas City office. "The new owner will have new objectives, motivations and strategies to put tenants on that campus."

The sale could bring an estimated 1 million to 1.5 million square feet of Class A office space up for lease in the historically strong Johnson County submarket by the middle of the year. 

Beyond Overland Park, Sprint's pending merger with T-Mobile will reverberate throughout the region's office market as communities seek creative ways to backfill the carrier's inventory of older office space.

"We have a lot of Class B space in Platte County," said Alicia Stephens, Executive Director of the Platte County Economic Development Council. "To see what Sprint did when it first opened and then when it downsized- and now with the merger-  I think it has a long-term impact for us."

As Sprint seeks suitors for its campus, Copaken Brooks will continue to build its case for a new, Class multi-tenant high-rise office building in Downtown Kansas City. The 250,000-square foot tower would be the first of its kind in about 30 years.

"We think people will pay a premium for something new and innovative in terms of layout, size and technology. The task is figuring out how deep is that market, and how much do people really want to pay?" said Jon Copaken, Principal of Copaken Brooks. "We feel the time is right to explore than and get that done."

Other top development stories to watch in 2019, according to MetroWire Media panelists:

*Construction of the new KCI (Alicia Stephens)

*Growth in Data Center, K-12 Educational projects (Randy Bredar, JE Dunn Construction)

*Fruition of several sports-themed mixed-use projects, such as Bluhawk in South Overland Park (Bart Lowen, Price Brothers Development)

*KC Streetcar extension to UMKC (Jon Copaken)

*Access to Opportunity Zones (Mike Klamm, CBRE)

Check out a slideshow from the event here. Photos courtesy of Jacia Phillips, Arch Photo KC.

EDC of Kansas City announces 2018 Cornerstone Award winners

The Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri, (EDCKC) announced winners of its 2018 Cornerstone Awards, which recognize the city's top construction, redevelopment, capital investments and job creation or expansion projects.

A total of 11 projects were showcased at the EDCKC’s annual event on Tues., May 15, 2018 at Kansas City’s Union Station. Winners achieved a variety of economic development criteria, including job creation, global economic growth, capital investment, innovation, P3, entrepreneurship, sustainability, neighborhood improvement, tourism, workforce and education, and adaptive reuse. 

“The Cornerstone Awards celebrate the people and organizations that are building the future of Kansas City, Missouri,” said Bob Langenkamp, EDCKC president and CEO. “The 2018 award recipients have played a vital role in creating a thriving economy in our city, and we enthusiastically congratulate them on their efforts."

Winners of the annual development awards included: AutoAlert, Cable Dahmer Headquarters & Collision, Cerner Innovation Campus, Hotel Indigo and Fairfax Lofts Apartments, Hunt Midwest SubTropolis Animal Health Corridor, KC Urban Youth Baseball, Linwood YMCA/James B. Nutter Sr. Community Center, NBKC Bank, Spring Venture Group, Urban Cafe, and Westport Commons/Plexpod.

EDCKC also recognized several organizations for work on regional projects such as the Amazon HQ2 proposal and the successful campaign for A Better KCI. Amazon HQ2 honorees included Barkley, VML and Xact Technologies, and A Better KCI partners included Platte County EDC, Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce, Kansas City Area Development Council, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, and The Dover Group.

KCP&L was applauded for its Clean Charge Network & KCP&L Connect initiatives. The Veterans Community Tiny House Project received EDCKC's People's Choice Award. 

The ceremony also honored UMKC Chancellor Emeritus Leo Morton for his tireless support of philanthropic, civic and economic progress in Kansas City.