Ronald Altoon (center) of Altoon & Porter Architects (with Walt Clements, director of the Lewis White Real Estate Center, UMKC, and Michael Song, executive director, UMKC Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, both with the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration) was the featured speaker at the “Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: an Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide” conference that was held earlier this week at The Kauffman Foundation. Henry Klover of Klover Architects, also was part of the panel (below with Bob Lindeblad with BHC Rhodes, John Stacy with J.P. Stacy & Co., Inc., commercial real estate services, and Bill Prelogar, Jr., principal architect of NSPJ Architects).
Altoon, author and former president of the American Institute of Architects, spoke about the challenges of creating an international business. Altoon, a visonary international leader in architecture with Altoon + Porter, has offices in Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Shanghai. The firm has won more than 65 international awards for design excellence for their work in mixed-use, retail, office, institutional and transit projects. Some of the most notable projects include the Atrium in Moscow, the Kingdome Centre in Saudi Arabia, and the Queen Ka’ahumanu Center in Maui. Guests Michael Lally, vice president, Olsson Associates, and Chris Heinz with Hollis and Miller Architects (below), and others attending the event said one of the points that resonated with them the most was the importance of “believing in yourself and your abilities and exporting them on an international basis. You have to immerse yourself in the culture, the food, how they do business before you can even go over there.” 
Stag Commercial acquires downtown building in Shawnee
Kevin Tubbesing (below) of Stag Commercial is bringing back a bit of history to downtown Shawnee.
He has acquired the Commerce Bank property directly across from City Hall at 11110 Johnson Drive. The purchase includes the bank building, a 3,359-square-foot former municipal firehouse adjacent the bank, and associated parking lots in the downtown area. Located in a Neighborhood Revitalization area, strong tax incentives and loan programs are available for landlord and tenants, Tubbesing said.
The original structure was built for Shawnee State Bank in 1909. In 1971, a black spandrel glass with aluminum framing façade was applied to the skin of the building. “We’ll start transforming the building by uncovering and restoring the original stone of the bank,” he said. As many parts of the expanded building are cinder block construction, Stag Commercial will reface the building in complementary natural stone. The former entrance directly at the corner of Johnson and Nieman Drives will be reopened, bringing back the charm of one of Shawnee’s most recognized historic images. Internally, the building will be bisected north to south creating separate tenant spaces. On Johnson Drive, three individual entrance spaces will be created, each with a unique stone façade on their section of the building. The south facing entrance adjacent the parking lot will be attractive for a retail or restaurant operation offering strong visibility and signage to passing traffic.
CREW gets a green update
David Long with Heartland Business Capital, Jim Sheridan with Sheridan Franchise Systems, and Paul Wagner with Prosser Wilbert Construction (above) attended a recent CREW event (and no, they weren’t the only men there, they said). This month, the topic was “Green By Design: Investing In The Future: Sustainable Real Estate in a Changing Economic Environment.” One interesting example given by a speaker centered on leasing a building where some of the tenants are taking initiatives to go green and save money on utilities, etc., and others aren’t, and how does a landlord deal with those issues that often include financial consequences. In general, speakers Walt Clements, Hans Nettelblad, Associate Principal, BNIM, Curtis Petersen, J.D. LEED® AP, Attorney, Polsinelli Shughart PC, and Joy Hays, J.D., attorney, Polsinelli Shughart PC, talked about the financial impact on your rate of return when using sustainable real estate concepts in your existing building or new construction plans; how those ideas work in today’s landscape; and solutions to legal issues that arise when doing business in sustainable real estate, especially relating to leases, contracts and the LEED certification process. Below, also attendig were Amy Slattery with BNIM and Naomi Menefee with Highwoods Properties; and Diana Ennis of Stewart Title with Mary Jane Judy and speaker Curtis Petersen.
