Debora H. Field, Vice President of Sales and Leasing for Zimmer Real Estate Services, L.C., has an interesting job these days — working with a team to bring tenants to one of Kansas City’s most famous landmarks: Union Station. Field (above at Union Station), who has 30 years of commercial real estate experience, answered questions recently about the challenges of her latest venture that began in early 2010 when the owners of Union Station chose Zimmer to market this special property.
How was Zimmer chosen to market Union Station?
The owners, Union Station Kansas City Inc., sent out an RFP to several firms and we were on a list that was eventually shortened, and then we interviewed with the Real Estate Board committee and got the job. I think Zimmer, which has deep roots in KC and does a lot of work with community organizations, had the appetite and the ability to successfully market the space and I think that’s what the owners were looking for. I think they saw in our team people who have done about any kind of transaction imaginable and thought they needed some creativity and broad experience. So we assembled a team of people – development, marketing and leasing – and got to work. Joyce Murray and Devin Schuster are on the leasing team with me and Nick Parker and Becca Andersen do our marketing for Union Station. We’ve taken on some non-traditional roles for the Station and have enjoyed stretching our limits.
What is your role on the team?
I’m the Account Manager, the point of contact, between our team and the Executive Director and the Board’s real estate committee. The Zimmer team works on finding tenants and talking to other brokers interested in information for leasing the vacant spaces in the building. We figure out how to best tour and present this behemoth building. “Meet me under the Clock” has become what we say to find each other and prospects we are meeting for tours.
What’s going on at Union Station right now, then?
We started with approximately 80,000 square feet of office and another, roughly 40,000 square feet of special use/retail/exhibit space available. Currently, the post office, NARA, two restaurants, Science Pioneers, EPT and Hubble Peak Law Firm are housed in Union Station, plus a few more small tenants and of course Pierpont’s restaurant. The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the KCADC will be moving in, one to occupy the west wing and one to occupy the east wing for about 33,000 SF total. Sounds like the White House. Once they are in we will have about 45,000 SF of pure office space left to lease. We also have another tenant about ready to be announced taking 4,400 square feet of space which has great window line and access to the west parking lot. We’ve made several proposals and have many prospects which frankly we are thrilled about given the economy.
What was your goal when you took over this project?
Our first goal actually, when we hit the ground running, was to get our hands and our minds around this large unique property to understand what space we had to lease to tenants. We had to get a handle on tenant opportunities and amenities cause there are so many, and we’ve done that. We had to identify ingress/egress, parking, how the building works 24/7 with the public coming and going and having big events and exciting days and then the doldrums. The train at Christmas was so loud in the Grand Hall we couldn’t give tours; they are moving it to a permanent location in the lower level for next your and years to come. With PGAV Architects help, we figured out how spaces would divide up. It really took a while to get our hands around the entire building and its opportunities and amenities. We would explore a new area every time we went to the building and found some space that was uninhabitable and then space that could be leased that sat vacant. We have recommended new way-finding signage which 360 Architects is involved with, while understanding what we can and cannot do in this historic structure. Once we had a handle on the physical building, we brainstormed and asked ourselves “How could space be converted to income, laying a long term financial foundation for the building? So, we took on the task of taking a look at every space in the building, and thinking, “What could this space become and what is it worth and who is the tenant?” It is very satisfying to have an impact on the future viability of a building that everyone in KC loves and relates to in some way.
Can you describe the spaces?
People say “I’ve heard it doesn’t have many windows.” But that’s not true. Union Station has spaces with windows with views looking toward Crown Center and interior spaces that look over the Grand Hall. The east and west wings have enormous light wells plus exterior windows. We found under utilized space that would make great office space and it had the best views looking up toward the WW I Memorial across Pershing Road. There are creative spaces, too. Spaces with brick side walls and no dropped ceilings. We give lots of tours, and I tell brokers to allow at least a half hour. People want to look around and undoubtedly, they want to share their stories and memories of Union Station with you. Tenants want to be there, it’s an exciting place, and we’re trying to make it a place for the community.
What’s your hope for this project?
The goal is to obtain long-term commitments with a mix of tenants that use the building and all its amenities. And for me, personally, it’s been such a fun project, very intriguing and exciting, different. This isn’t one of those office building boxes to lease. I feel I’m making a contribution to something that’s much bigger. As we populate Union Station with tenants, it’s going to breathe new life into the building, and the retail that was once there will be replaced with those that make sense for the new tenant employees and visitors. People are awed by this building, and are excited, like we are, about its future. It is part of the real estate story because tenants are calling us and saying “We want to be there.” With the amenities we have, meeting rooms, presentation stages, food service, Link access to Crown Center, stage and exhibit events it is a treat to market. George Guastello, the Station’s Executive Director, is very creative and he saw immediately the viability of the building as the “Peoples House,” as he calls it. When we saw an opportunity to land the Chamber and KCADC, his strategy started to unfold, which is to make the building that is already the icon of Kansas City a place for tenants to become involved with the community and that they’ll want to interact and be part of the fabric of the city.