MetroWireMedia e-publications

Golf course living and a wide variety of choices when it comes to home-building has made the Stone Canyon community a popular draw in eastern Jackson County.  Boasting a picturesque, Greg Norman-designed golf course (above), Stone Canyon also features panoramic views in the rolling hills of Missouri.  Stone Canyon offers two distinct communities: The Retreat, with ranch (below) and reverse one-and-a-half story homes starting at $239,900 built by T.E. Woods Homes (Tom Woods, president, and his son, Shawn Woods, is vice president) and The Estates, where golf course lots start at just $59,000 and homes range in the mid-300s and up. These homes are “bring your own plans, bring your own builder,” said Billy Brandtonies, community representative.

Stone Canyon with its upscale entrance (below) encompasses 230 home sites on 362 acres. The crown jewel is the golf course, which was recently voted one of the top new courses in the country by Golf Magazine. The golf club is currently holding a wildly successful membership drive and will feature amenities such as fine dining, swimming and tennis. Located in Blue Springs off I-70, Stone Canyon is close to award-winning schools, shopping and more. For information, call 913-634-7711 or go to www.StoneCanyonGolfClub.com or www.TEWoods.com.

Bang for the buck in newer suburban areas (Pt. 2 of 2)

Despite the resurgence in downtown living this decade, home-buyer preference surveys still show that most people still prefer a home in the suburbs, the newer the better. So where can a buyer get the most bang for the buck in an existing home in newer areas of suburbia? For the second straight week, MetroWireKC presents ZIP codes with the lowest average home resale price in growing sections of Kansas City-area suburbs. Last week was southern and western Johnson County. This week: parts of Jackson, Clay and Platte counties. ZIP codes can be large areas, so average prices won’t reflect all neighborhoods, but they give an indication of general values. Also, resale prices only include existing homes. Data is from the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors.

Brookside homes keep their charm and value

Reece & Nichols agents Kelly Howard and Bebe Wirkus stopped by DeeDee Cooper’s  Brookside listing this week. Priced just under $350,000, the home boasts a bright and open floor plan and a lovely stone front porch. Below, Cooper in the updated, sunny kitchen that looks out over the large backyard deck.

909 Walnut: There’s new contact information for 909 Walnut, which is going “condo” after several years of rental. For more information, contact Hali Morgan at (816) 278-3099.

The Kansas City Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management hosted its annual night at the T-Bones last week. Over 50 friends and members (above) were in attendance for the T-Bones win, with four home runs before the 7^th inning stretch.  

The warm night of baseball was preceded by a BBQ cookout in the parking lot and networking hour.  Above, Bob Paradise, Paradise Asphalt Maintenance, and Steve Lemon, Siemens, discuss the finer points of parking lot maintenance, fire alarms and strategies of baseball prior to the game.

Kelly Masten, Cassidy Turley Real Estate, Nicole Nelson, ISS Facility Solutions, and  Linda Myers, CB Richard Ellis, enjoyed the warm weather. IREM Kansas City is a Five Star Chapter (a top rating) with over 300 active members.  They strive to promote ethics, education and networking among their group of real estate managers.

Taking in the game with a few cold ones in the stands were  Linda Myers, Nicole Westerbeck, Passco, and Tina Dubose, Passco. Below,  Anne Lemon, Block Real Estate Services LLC and President-Elect IREM Kansas City, with  Kelly Masten.

Speaker emphasizes importance of CREW Network for women

This month’s CREW luncheon featured speaker Collete English Dixon, president-elect of CREW Network, an organization that strives to advance the success of women in commercial real estate. Dixon is Vice President, Transactions, for Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI), a business unit of Prudential Financial. As of January 2008, she is co-leader of PREI’s national investment dispositions program, which is responsible for managing the sale of PREI’s investment properties on behalf of its clients. In 2009, the PREI dispositions team completed the sale of more than $1.1 billion in portfolio assets.

CREW board members with Dixon – from left back row:  Diana Ennis, Stewart Title (KC CREW Chapter President), Michelle Suter, Commercial Law Group (KC CREW Past President), Linda Laurence, Missouri Bank (Director of Sponsorship), Shannon O’Doherty, Commerce Bank (Director of Community Services), Marcia Charney (front row from left), Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP (KC CREW President-Elect), and Jill Biesma, Environmental Advisors & Engineers (Director of Communications).

CREW Network provides members tools to spread professional contacts, knowledge and resources. As past president of CREW Chicago and immediate past chair of the CREW Foundation, Dixon emphasized how important networking is for CREW members. Some interesting facts about CREW Network members:  Members represent every aspect of the commercial real estate industry, including law, leasing, brokerage, property management, finance, acquisitions, and engineering; more than 63 percent are CEOs, presidents, owners, partners, or senior managers;  they average 14 years of experience in commercial real estate; and more than 75 percent have received or given a referral from or to another member; and nearly 50 percent report having conducted a commercial real estate transaction with another member.

Orion Property Group is about working as team. Principals Michael Napovanice, Nick Moos and Bill Charcut (below) describe their company as being “boutique-type management style,” meaning that all clients get the assistance, perspective and expertise from an entire team of professionals.

Charcut, Moos and Napovanice formed a partnership and transformed the Neighborhood Group into Orion Property Group. They have kept many parts of the business model the same, and Orion has the same policies and procedures as the Neighborhood Group while still focusing more on their “boutique style” of management. The group’s name is a natural fit for the team — it’s after the three stars in the constellation Orion’s belt. In describing their company the three partners said: “Orion Property Group is a one-stop shop. We can assume the management of the property, stabilize the property, improve operations and financial performance and then get it ready for increased value, profitably or sale down the road for the owner.”

What is your outlook on the apartment market right now?

Coming out of 2010, we’re bullish on the apartment market. Our feeling is that occupancies are going to stabilize. We think issues with delinquency will get better as the apartment market gets better. Millennials are the largest generation since the baby boomers and the oldest ones at 20 haven’t really been moving into apartments yet. They are staying with their parents longer because of the economy. As the economy improves and they move to their own apartments, this will improve occupancies. We’re not so bullish on purchasing and buying. We still have a lot of people wanting to sell, a lot of people wanting to buy. There is a big difference on meeting in the middle on price. Sellers selling right now are just testing the market. They’d like to sell but they are not going to give the property away. The second half of 2010 is going to be better when it comes to brokerage.

What is Orion’s business model?

Our business model is that we are a boutique-style company. We only have senior people working on the management of our properties. With a larger regional or national company, the question is: who actually will be supervising the on-site people and how much experience do they really have? With us, every property gets somebody who has 20-25 years of management experience actively managing the property. We have a more customer-centric management style; it’s really what differentiates us from other management companies. The Orion Property Group is one of eight companies in Kansas that has its Accredited Management Organization (AMO) status from the Institute of Real Estate Managers (IREM). Plus, we know who the real estate players are. It just gives us a lot of more knowledge and experience in managing and brokering real estate. We’re also working on green initiatives. Our green initiatives are for our company as a whole — for example, we retrofit with florescent lighting. We also have a green initiative with our residents to be better stewards of the environment.

Can you tell us more specifically about the company’s “green initiative”?

Not only do we have a green initiative internally for our company, but we also give our residents goals and objectives to help them be green. With our tenants we ask them to recycle as much as possible, reuse as much as they can, use CFL light bulbs, don’t waste water. We can put in all the low-flow water saving devices, but if a resident turns on the water for 10 minutes, the property or the environment is not gaining anything. By giving the residents goals in this area we are creating a climate of savings. That’s not something that has been typical in the property management arena.

We really do work with our residents and tenants, we have them sign a document in conjunction with Orion Property Group saying they will try and help sustain the earth. It gives them a whole list of ideas, like, “Why do you have air conditioner running and patio door open? How about using ceiling and floor fans to lower their air conditioning bills?” We also might tell them we’ve noticed they’re using a lot of water. We monitor these issues. If a tenant thinks about the environment, it will save them money and it helps our planet.

We’ve also started being green in our capital projects, such as those properties with flat roofs where we are moving to white energy efficient roofs. Even when it comes to paper usage we’re working to conserve. We are going paperless as much as we possibly can. We are going to virtual file cabinets as opposed to making copies of everything. We try to have tenants communicate with us via email as much as possible. Another green initiative that we’re doing is utilizing check scanners on properties. This eliminates the need to drive to the bank. We’ve looked at every part of our business and we have a committee in place that meets to discuss any and all energy conservation ideas.

Could you describe your ideal client?

The ideal client may be an institutional investor or it might be an individual with one property to manage or broker. Because of our experience level, we all have worked for national companies, we can manage very large apartment buildings in urban settings, as well as smaller properties in the suburbs. We manage almost every type of real estate from multi-family, commercial to retail. With our company customers get a one-stop shop — management, accounting, consulting, and brokerage. We can handle everyone’s needs.

Are there any exciting projects you are currently working on?

We’re working with a national publicly traded REIT. We are the asset managers on four very large properties in Lawrence, Overland Park and Olathe. We also work for local owners. We’ve assumed the management of a property in Lee’s Summit for a local owner. We have another apartment property slated to come under our management in August.

What makes your three-person partnership so strong?

Nick: I bring over 30 years of property management experience, plus I’ve worked for two national firms in director of property management positions with properties in 18 markets throughout the country. I bring the national experience to the table, but I’ve also been in Kansas City for 19 years, so I also have local experience. I’m able to marry these two experiences together and use this knowledge to improve the performance of the properties for our clients. I’m very strong in marketing and in really improving property performance on the revenue side.

Mike: My experience is dealing with the financial and operations side. It is very helpful in taking over a property and turning it around operationally and financially. My specialty is in preparing a property for eventual brokerage down the road and helping the owner get that property turned around.  In addition, I handle the brokerage side of the Orion Property Group by helping buyers find properties and sellers sell their properties.  Buyers and sellers are comfortable with my knowledge of the operation and financial side and my proven record of turning properties around. Due to this combination of skills, we continue to pick up listings for sale from not only owners, but also banks in this economy.

Bill: I worked as an acquisitions director for a national firm and helped them acquire property on a nationwide basis. The advice we’re giving our clients on a management is with an eye down the road for the appreciation in that property’s value. Our opinions and suggestions for managing a property are going to push the property ahead of its competitors in the surrounding neighborhood. I’ve been involved with real estate owned assets and have been a court-appointed receiver several times. A lot of property going into receivership is entrusted to Orion with mortgage owner to stabilize them and set them up for sale.

A new President’s Club formed by Walt Clements (above), director of the Lewis White Real Estate Center at UMKC,  reads like a who’s who list within the local commercial real estate industry — and that’s exactly what Clements wanted. “We really want to capitalize on the synergy of the various commercial real estate groups in our area,” Clements said. “Until now, there’s never really been a forum for all of us to get together.” This group will get involved in politics regarding development and economic issues on a state and local level, and will meet once or twice a year to discuss emerging issues. The group also will give a boost to UMKC’s new real estate school by supporting it and spreading the word, Clements said. Among those who took part in the inaugural club meeting were Dan Musser, Paul Fogel, Charles Connely, Diana Ennis, Jon Hitchcock, Anne Lemon, Ken Jaggers, Jay Tomlison, John Snyder, Joe Vaught and Tim Weaver.

Clements also wants to get the word out about an important course being offered for anyone in commercial real estate, on Wednesday nights, Aug. 25 through Dec. 17 at the UMKC Bloch School: “What happens if the real estate deal goes bad: Chapter 11?” Taught by skilled litigator R. Pete Smith, senior partner of McDowell, Rice, Smith & Buchanan, P.C., this course will provide a variety of situations, positions and strategies that provide the most effective means and methods for any stakeholder that may be impacted by the recent downturn in the real estate industry. For more information, call 816-235-5188.

Embassy Landscape stands the test of time

Embassy Landscape has been creating unique outdoor environments for both commercial landscape and residential landscape clients in the Kansas City area for more than 25 years. (Above is the Shoal Creek Valley Gatehouse in the Northland off Highway 152 and Shoal Creek Parkway). Dedicated to responsible and sustainable practices in the design, implementation and professional maintenance of projects, Embassy’s work enriches the lives of the people they serve, adding value and beauty to their properties. Embassy is a leader in custom landscape concepts incorporating green solutions, and has built a strong industry reputation with award-winning designs and on-the-job excellence.

President Joe Smith was just a kid when he started the company – he mowed the grass at a neighborhood baseball field. Good training programs and good people are responsible for Embassy’s success, Smith said. Embassy serves both small and large commercial landscape clients, maintaining properties ranging from 10,000 square feet up to 100 or more acres. Clients work with their certified landscape professionals to design a program that will both fit the budget and increase the aesthetic value of the property. Not only do they provide maintenance for your property, but Embassy also serves your design/build needs for new landscape projects, including construction and irrigation. Below, one of their many commercial building projects (they also do the Shops at Boardwalk and Harrah’s.)

What sets Embassy apart from other landscape companies is its certified employees, water management expertise, knowledgeable staff that can provide green solutions as landscape stewards, and dedication to providing exemplary customer service.  Commercial properties these days are looking for curb appeal at good value – cost savings, but high value for dollars spent, Smith said. Some of the trends these days include water management and cost saving water devises/monitoring, rain gardens for collecting property run off, use of building materials for walkways and patios such as permeable pavers that discourage runoff that you typically find from using flat surface materials, and native plants that require less watering.  Below, one of their proudest projects: the R.A. Bloch Cancer Survivor Park on the Country Club Plaza. Embassy makes it a point to be involved in the community, and often works with local charitable organizations.

When most of us hear about an “open house,” we think about a Sunday afternoon or those great Tuesday lunch tours, but a new trend is emerging. This new trend, especially among upper bracket properties, is to have an evening open house, complete with drinks and hors d’oeuvres. This week, agents at three upscale properties combined forces for an enchanting tour of their elegant listings. Jim Gamble of Reece & Nichols (above) greeted guests at the front entry of 8919 Catalina in Prairie Village’s Somerset Acres. This new home at $2.1 million features two master suites and has an Old World feel from the heavy, wrought-iron chandelier in the entryway to the stone pillars in the living room.

Prudential agents Andrea Hunter and Pam Gyllenborg offered sangria and antipasto to guests who stopped in Tuesday evening to view their $1.9 million listing at 10417 Howe Lane in Leawood. This Vermont-inspired Dutch Colonial designed by Nearing Staats was a “first pick” lakefront lot in the Mission Farms area, complete with a screened porch and patio with outdoor fireplace.

You won’t find a sign in front of this private estate and local landmark listed by Prudential’s Cynthia Sifers & Robbie Smart (above) at 4800 W. 83rd Terrace in Prairie Village. A former Mission Valley Hunt Club, this English-style mansion boasts wide plank wood floors, an outdoor pool, four fireplaces and more than an acre of privacy and gardens. Listed at $3.8 million, it’s one-of-a-kind.

Good Stats: Bang for the buck in newer suburban areas (Pt. 1 of 2)

Despite the resurgence in downtown living this decade, home-buyer preference surveys still show that most people still prefer a home in the suburbs, the newer the better. So where can a buyer get the most bang for their buck in an existing home in newer areas of suburbia? This week and next, Metrowire presents ZIP codes with the lowest average home resale price in growing sections of Kansas City-area suburbs. This week: southern and western Johnson County. ZIP codes can be large areas, so average prices won’t reflect all neighborhoods, but they give an indication of general values. Also, resale prices only include existing homes. Data is from the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors.

Off-Plaza townhomes put you in the middle of the action

Westwood Place near 47th and Jarboe, just west of the Plaza, boasts a row of town homes that not only have loads of curb appeal, but they give you the best of both worlds: you get the feel and comfort of a single family home, and at the same time you have the wonderful Plaza lifestyle, said RE/MAX First agent Lynn Kingsley-Jones, who currently is listing a two-bedroom unit at 1109 W. 47th St. for $375,000.

Kingsley-Jones in the kitchen of her listing at Westwood Place with Lindsay Sproul, sales and marketing manager with Continental Title Company. “You open your door to the great outdoors, you have multiple, private outdoor living areas, you can even plant a flower garden in your front courtyard,” she said. “You also have a 2-car individual attached garage, plus two additional spots for guests–that is unheard of in the area. And lawn care, snow removal, exterior maintenance are all done for you.” Below, the Irving Fulgenzi team at Chartwell dropped by to check out the town home and the competition (they have several projects underway in the west plaza area): Eric Nielsen, Joseph Fulgenzi, John Scott and Robert McCain.

July Deal Sheet

Industrial

Cole Harford sold 50,000 square feet of industrial space to Linen King, LLC located at 2600 Maguire Boulevard, Columbia, MO. D. Edward Elder, SIOR of Grubb & Ellis|The Winbury Group represented the Seller in the transaction, and Paul Land of Plaza Real Estate represented the Buyer.

The Industrial Fumigant Company, LLC leased 10,436 square feet in Exchange Place 1, located at 13420 W. 99^th St., in Lenexa, KS.  Philip Algrim, SIOR and Erik Lund of NAI Capital Realty and Matthew Severns and Miles McCune of Kessinger/Hunter Commercial Real Estate Services negotiated the transaction.

Golfsmith USA, LLC leased 28,163 square feet of space at 12020 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS. Audrey Navarro and Michael Watson of Kessinger/Hunter & Company and Carl LaSala of LaSala-Sonnenberg negotiated the lease.

Ford Storage and Moving Company renewed its lease of 23,800 square feet of space at 5141 Richland Avenue, Kansas City, KS. Michael Watson of Kessinger/Hunter & Company and Joe Orscheln of CB Richard Ellis negotiated the lease.

SIS Partners, LLC sold 14,017 square feet of industrial space to Midwest Real Estate, LLC located at 1409-1411 Iron Street, North Kansas City, MO. Douglas M. Hedrick, SIOR, CCIM and John F. Delzer of Grubb & Ellis|The Winbury Group represented the Seller in the transaction, and Adam Abrams of Red Development represented the Buyer.

Office

SHC Services, Inc. (d/b/a Supplemental Health Care) has renewed its lease and expanded to 3,406 square feet at Antioch Plaza in Merriam, KS. Antioch Plaza, located at 6700 Antioch, is an 80,000 square-foot Class A multi-tenant office building (above). Mike VanBuskirk, SIOR, CCIM, CRE and Susan Smith, of Zimmer, represented the landlord, JMZ Associates in negotiations.

Board of Trade Investment Co., Inc. renewed and expanded the lease of 5,289 square feet of office space to 21 Holdings, L.P. located at 4800 Main Street, Kansas City, MO. Patrick T. Coppinger and Matthew V. Stover of Grubb & Ellis|The Winbury Group represented the Landlord in the transaction, and Doug Young of Ceres Realty represented the Tenant.

New York Life Insurance Company renewed its lease of 19,050 square feet of space at 14400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Leawood, KS. Sharon Gartin of Kessinger/Hunter & Company and Tim Schaffer of RED Brokerage negotiated the renewal.

Onetwothree, LLC leased 2,100 square feet of office space to IMG Communications, Inc., DBA, Jayhawk Sports Marketing located at 123 West 8^th Street, Lawrence, KS. Allison Vance Moore of Grubb & Ellis|The Winbury Group represented the Tenant in the transaction.

Retail

Gen X Clothing, Inc. leased 30,000 square feet of space at State 50 Shopping Center, 4939 State Avenue, Kansas City, KS. Chris Newkirk of Kessinger/Hunter & Company negotiated the lease.

Golfsmith USA, LLC leased 28,163 square feet of space at 12020 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS. Audrey Navarro and Michael Watson of Kessinger/Hunter & Company and Carl LaSala of LaSala Sonnenberg negotiated the lease.

Beauty Secrets leased 11,250 square feet of space at State 50 Shopping Center, 4935 State Avenue, Kansas City, KS. Chris Newkirk of Kessinger/Hunter & Company negotiated the lease.

Nick’s Pizzeria and Ice Cream Company leased 6,607 square feet of space at 12030 Blue Valley Parkway, Overland Park, KS. Audrey Navarro, Sher Blandford and Andrew Thomas of Kessinger/Hunter & Company and David Bayer of KC Commercial negotiated the lease

Building 6S, LLC leased 2,354 square feet of retail space to Noodles & Company, located at 13448 Metcalf Avenue, Overland Park, KS. Kimberly Tranbarger of Grubb & Ellis|The Winbury Group represented the Landlord in the transaction, and Steve Gasperi of Block & Co. represented the Tenant.

What will Greater Kansas City look like in 2040? CREW members got a quick look into the future at their monthly luncheon, thanks to guest speaker Frank Lenk, Director of Research Services, Mid-America Regional Council (above with KC CREW Chapter President Diana Ennis with Stewart Title and program coordinator Jenni Glass with the Overland Park Economic Development Council). Our area is forecasted to increase by 500,000 people and 300,000 jobs over the next 30 years.

MARC’s Technical Forecast Committee has a “nodes and corridors” strategy. Developed over the past 18 months, this scenario illustrates the impact of taking to a regional scale the kinds of activity centers area governments seem to be planning. It assumes local and regional policies promote development and redevelopment of commercial areas into mixed-use centers along corridors with sufficient densities and amenities to make them more walkable, bikeable, and easily served by transit. The results show less decline and a greater preservation of open space — 40 percent of the region’s expected population growth is accommodated in existing areas, while 60 percent is in new areas. Below,  program sponsors Linda Laurence with Missouri Bank (left) and Sarah Staten with A.L. Huber Construction Co.

Subtropolis clients enjoy cool temps, easy expansion

We caught up recently with Dick Ringer, Assistant General Manager, and Connie Kamps, Director of Real Estate Operations for Hunt Midwest (in front of the SubTropolis model). Hunt Midwest SubTropolis, the world’s largest underground business complex, recently announced a renewal of 311,660 square feet by the U.S. Postal Service. An underground complex is perfect for this stamp fulfillment center postal operation (below) that sells stamps to buyers all over the world – the daily inventory of stamps is 400 to 600 million - with its  dry, safe and natural, even temperature, Ringer said. Ringer also recently announced three lease renewals and expansions totaling 446,199 square feet: Bayer CropScience, Underground Vaults & Storage Inc. (which houses the original copies of classic movies such as “Gone with the Wind) and Highway Distribution Systems Inc. About two decades ago, when Underground Vaults & Storage opened at SubTropolis, it started with 6,000 square feet. Over the years, it’s been easy for the company and others to grow, just adding storage space next to its original location. Companies at SubTropolis can grow quickly and at a much lower cost that it would take to move from one office building to another, and the SubTropolis has plenty of room to grow. Last year, they began a 5 million square foot expansion, and there’s plenty more space to mine out after that.

Design Mechanical reaches out with DMI University

Design Mechanical, the area’s leading mechanical services company known for innovative customer service and an award-winning workplace, is the first to offer educational classes on HVAC for property owners and building engineers. These compact, hands-on courses, usually over the lunch hour (below) in DMI’s new training center, are designed to inform and educate facility owners, managers, directors, engineers and others in today’s latest HVAC technology.  At DMI University, the customer has a hands-on experience with industry professionals to learn what’s new in HVAC technology, as well as proven processes from their own technical staff.

“The classes are a great way to learn about  new products and new technology that’s out there,” said Valerie Mussett, sales/project manager for DMI. Here’s one example: The average nuisance call costs between $150 and $200.  DMI University courses can decrease that by up to 50 percent. Other classes focus on energy benchmarking, indoor air quality, air balance, electrical, safety and more. The feedback they’re getting is very positive, Mussett said. Below, Gary Schlotzhauer with Kessinger Hunter, Phil Blea with REIT Management and Mike Chieppo, VP of Design Mechanical, attend a recent session.

Design Mechanical opened its doors in 2003 and has grown to over 60 service technicians, over 90 employees and over 1,000 customers. It is a mechanical construction / service company providing HVAC solutions to the commercial / industrial market, headed up by president William Iler. Major clients include Black and Veatch, Burns & McDonnell and Union Station.

Adding to the progressiveness of downtown Kansas City, 909 Walnut (center above), one of the tallest residential buildings in the Midwest, announced that it’s undergoing a condo conversion after five years of rentals, which was required when the building was developed with historic tax credits. The change will take effect in October, said Alan Waterman, 909 Walnut condo conversion manager. “We’re ramping up in advance to go condo,” he said. “All along, that’s been our intention, to have a high profile building with a high level of luxury living. We already have 17 reservations from people who already live there and want to buy their units.”

How they are ramping up is of great interest to the local real estate community these days. Owned and developed by Glenn Solomon (below), 909 Walnut is embracing a new model of real estate that fully takes advantage of social media, featuring a reality campaign with actual residents that expands through a completely redesigned website. 909 Walnut has plans for fully integrated and heavily active social media platforms. The campaign takes potential residents inside the property and uses real people to share what it is like to live there as one of the first in the Midwest to integrate this emerging trend. Viewers will virtually step into 909 Walnut and meet their would-be neighbors. The campaign (developed by Travis Joyal and Lee Page of Page Communications) highlights various tenants with diverse backgrounds and lifestyles with ongoing plans for fresh content that will also translate to television and social media outlets. New videos will roll out monthly, introduced through the web and social media outlets. The first four videos are live for viewing at the following link: http://www.909walnut.com/faces-of-909.php?vid=1

Residential real estate price trends – second of two parts

MetroWire has analyzed five years of home resale prices by ZIP code across metropolitan Kansas City, thanks to data from the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors. While resale prices in 2009 remained below 2004 levels in many ZIP codes across the metro area, there are plenty of pockets where prices have shown stability during those five years. This week, MetroWire presents some of those places on the Kansas side. Last week, we reviewed the Missouri side. On the Kansas side, some parts of Johnson County led the metro area in housing appreciation during the past five years, with double-digit growth in resale home prices. Below are those leading ZIP codes on the Kansas side:

Missions Hills 68th Progressive Lunch Tour

Earlier this week, Kristin Malfer & Associates provided lunch and desserts for a large number of agents and brokers during the three-home tour of Missions Hills’ beautiful 68th Street. Besides the free lunch and dessert, Kristin Malfer & Associates gave away $25 Country Club Plaza gift cards to Reese & Nichols agents Lorie Wilson and Patsy Cooley-Bouckhout. Although the gift cards were exciting prizes, the big winner of the event was Reese & Nichols agent Susan Palmer who won an autographed football from Kansas City sports icon Len Dawson.

Above, Tricia Napper of the Kristin Malfer team, Lorie Nelson with Reese & Nichols and Marti Shuey with Keller-Williams Diamond Partners stand in front of the ranch-style home at 2501 W. 68th Street. The home has an eat-in kitchen, a vaulted hearth room and a secluded back patio. The backyard is fenced-in and includes lots of leafy coverage from the mature trees.

On the east end of the tour was  2301 W. 68th Street, which is an Evan-Talan inspired masterpiece. The Scott Bickford designed $2.15 million home features a stunning two-story vaulted sky-light in the hearth room and sweeping spiral staircase in the foyer. It also includes a flexible guest bedroom on the main floor, and a great outdoor living space with lanai and fireplace.

MetroWireKC sat down with (above) Dan Lowe, managing partner, and (below) Dave Claflin, vice president of marketing, over at RED Development, LLC, to get their take on the commercial real estate market and to hear about projects and developments RED is working on. Both Lowe and Claflin said though times weren’t exactly easy at RED Development that the company stayed strong through the past couple of years.

“The main thing is that we persevered through the downturn in 2008 and 2009,” Claflin said. “That’s a big deal because we were caught with a few projects at very vulnerable stages. Adam’s Dairy Landing, Summit Fair and Cityscape, in downtown Phoenix, a very expensive project, all had to find financing, not many development companies would have been able to pull off the feat of completing these projects during a year like that.”

Claflin added that they have seen nice activity out at Summit Fair where they opened with a Macy’s, a JC Penney and a couple smaller shops.

“In 2009, which was the year that banks turned off the spigot on financing all together, we were able to close on $200 million in project financing,” Lowe added. “We were relatively successful in 2009 when most developers were kind of on the sideline.”

RED has two headquarters, one here in Kansas City and one in Phoenix. How does that impact the structure of the company?

Claflin: “The offices mirror each other in some ways and provide complimentary support functions in others. Each office has development teams that are lead out of that specific city. Then things like administration, accounting, human resources, construction and design will be managed out of one office or the other.”

Do your different offices focus on different aspects of development?

Claflin: “Each of the development partners has their own unique flair and sense of a project, but up until two years ago, we tended to focus on lifestyle and power centers. As tastes have evolved we’ve become more involved in hybrid and now office/retail towers. We traditionally have focused on the same kinds of projects. If something catches Dan’s fancy, and he thinks he can make it work, he’ll bring powers of RED to bear on solving that problem. We also have done a lot to create a new category of projects called destination retail. These projects will combine entertainment, value and full-priced retail into a unique environment. An example of this is the Legends at Village West in Kansas City, Kan. These projects do a great job of targeting tourists.”

With some pretty rough years just past us, how is the future looking at RED?

Claflin: “We’ve seen an upturn both in Phoenix and Kansas City. With Phoenix projects, the majority of the space is office, and with the projects here it is retail. Up until 2008, for at least the previous five years, every major national retailer looked at business in a macro-view, they would concoct a plan in fall of that year and say they want to do 65 deals or so in the next year; then they would go out and find the best 65 deals to do. Compare that to these national retailers now and a lot of them said, ‘We’re not doing any deals,’ or maybe they said, ‘We’ll do two,’ so we had to really look hard at strategies and overall objectives and, just like a lot of people, get really creative. We made up our mind early on not to lower standards and compromise the success of the centers. Filling in some space looks good on rent roll for a few months, but if it’s a sub-par tenant, it affects everyone’s business, and it brings everyone down. Top-notch tenants contribute to the overall success of a center.

Lowe: “For the foreseeable future there will be an increased focus on infill opportunities. Go to the suburbs and try to build a new retail project, you’d have to have $280-220 per square foot to do that deal. We’re finding that lenders are not interested in those kinds of numbers and contrast that with infill deals where we can do the same kind of project for $75 per square foot. The lenders’ focus, thus developers’ focus, is on more infill-type opportunities. The barriers for entry are higher and we’re not seeing a lot of these distressed sales happening. I think infill development would be a second to acquiring viable, but distressed assets at discounted prices. What we’ve found is, for the most part, the money that’s chasing these assets is all funds, groups that have gone out and raised a million dollars to buy a property, and there is no developer expertise. We’re getting attention from sellers, because the offers we’re making are legitimate and well underwritten. Sellers want to avoid that retrade at the closing table and our offers are educated and won’t be retraded.”

How did RED find retailers?

Claflin: “Creativity really came in to play. We had contacts and successful business history with almost all the nationals that we would, of course, leverage, and we also found new creative national retailers. For example, Charming Charlie is lower cost fashion and accessory store that has been coming on gang-busters. It carries some clothing, but focuses on lots of accessories. You can go in find what you want and still walk out without thinking you’ve ruined your life or impacted your children’s future college fund. We found some newer, or more creative-thinking, national retailers. We have also spent a lot of time and effort finding some local retailers that were really successful in the local market and were looking to expand and move locations.”

Can you talk more about the positive change you mentioned earlier?

Claflin: “There has been a change at the retail level, starting with the consumer. We have all been chastened a bit, there was a lot of spending that was done almost in an artificial bubble, and was based on leveraging home equity. Kansas City is somewhat immune to the big up and down national swings– our real estate tends to stay nice and steady, no high-highs or low-lows, but that’s not the case in markets like Las Vegas. The source of ready cash was fueling a lot of retail somewhat artificially. Consumers are a little more cautious with spending now. Retail was the first aspect of our business to come back. The centers that were open and already leased started performing not too far below their highest levels not too far into 2009 and many are now back at full tilt. There is some new focus on value, new focus on different kinds of tenants: not a Gucci or Rolex, they’re about value and going in there with $20 and being able to walk away with something cool — like a Charmin Charlie’s kind of thing. The rest of it is cyclical. Our population is not decreasing, our population continues to grow, and cities are growing. Commercial real estate is fine and will remain a solid investment over the long-term. Retail as a vital segment of commercial real estate is going to be fine.”

Can you tell us about some projects the company has worked on?

Claflin: “The Legends at Village West development is an example of how things are adapting to meet the changing global economy and now has an increased refocus on outlet. The 119 development in Leawood is a very interesting kind of lifestyle center. It takes advantage of a great demographic out there at 119th Street and Roe by finding really unique restaurants and retailers to fill the space. La Bodega is opening up out there. I think a lot of other companies, looking at the last couple years, might have been a lot more eager to just fill up space there, and if we had wanted to just fill up space we could have done it. Instead, we waited for the right tenants to come along. It’s important to waiting for your pitch, and stay true to your vision overall strategy for the project.”

What about projects you’re working on now?

Lowe: “We’re under contract to purchase Woodbury Lakes Shopping Center, a project in a Minneapolis, St. Paul development. It was built as a joint venture with Opus Northwest in 2004-2005, we sold the project in 2006. We’re now buying it back at a third of the price we sold it for. These are the types of opportunities we’re looking for. There is no real action in the historically suburban, retail development. Our MO for a while is to pick up projects like the Woodbury project where we can buy at 30 cents on the dollar.”

“The fact that we were able to come out of 2009 and 2010 with our development and leasing group in tact means we’ve had the opportunity to see deals that a lot of other groups aren’t seeing. For example, the Ward Parkway Center project, when the lender backed out, the project came to us and asked for our help on the viability for redeveloping that deal to assess additional public financing on the project.”

Add the IRS to the list of tenants moving to Union Station.  The IRS will relocate its Taxpayer Assistance Center from Bannister Road to a new space inside Union Station this fall. The IRS will occupy 4,400 square feet of space near the west lower-level entrance. Zimmer Real Estate Services, L.C. represents Union Station and the team (above back row), comprised of Debora Field, Joyce Murray and Devin Schuster, has more than 60 years of experience combined in Kansas City real estate. Front row (from left) is Charles Ball, from the IRS Real Estate & Facilities Management Office, and George Guastello, President and CEO of Union Station Kansas City, Inc.

“This is an exciting time for us,” Guastello said. “We consider Union Station, because of its history and unequaled iconic status, to be the ‘People’s Place.’ With that in mind, our goal is to use our available space to create a home for organizations like the IRS, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas City Area Development Council. These are all groups devoted to making Kansas City the best it can be — and what better place than right here?”  Other tenants at Union Station include Kansas City’s main U.S. Post Office and the National Archives and Records Administration office. The station also serves as a hub for Amtrak rail service.

Grubb & Ellis honors top producers

Grubb & Ellis recently announced the achievements of its colleagues and top producers in the Kansas City metro region. Brokers must fulfill the highest production standards set by the company, which typically results in honoring the top 5 to 8 percent of all company professionals. “Grubb & Ellis’ goal is to be the best. That means recruiting and retaining the industry’s top talent, who succeed by consistently providing the highest level of service to clients,” said Jack Van Berkel, chief operating officer and president, Real Estate Services. “Each of the individuals honored at Circle of Excellence continue to set the example for how professionals who value teamwork, possess deep market knowledge and develop innovative real estate strategies can result in the best possible service for our clients. We’re proud to recognize them for their accomplishments.”

Bryan Johnson, (above with his Circle of Excellence Award) co-chief executive officer, Sven Sykes, executive vice president, and Tom Volini, executive vice president, each received top honors in their respective specialties. Additionally, Johnson was awarded Affiliate Broker of the Year.  From the looks of what’s hanging in his office, Johnson (a big hunter and fisherman) will be placing his award next to some furry friends.

IREM hits the golf course for charity

The Kansas City Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management held a golf tournament recently at Meadowbrook Country Club. The sold-out event was a big hit and was sponsored by Major Painting.  About 200 IREM members and friends enjoyed a beautiful day on the course with a portion of the proceeds to be donated to local charities at their December luncheon. Above are (from left) Brad Ashley, CPM, Senior Property Manager- CB Richard Ellis Inc.; Roger Vossman, Vice President – McAnany Construction Inc.; Eric Vossman, Project Manager- McAnany Construction Inc.; and Vern Walters, CPM, Vice President – Zimmer Real Estate Services.

Openings in Park Place 95

Park Place 95 is a high-quality office/warehouse flex development just east of 95th and Lackman in Lenexa, Kan.  Each unit has rear-loading with either over-head doors or dock loading and plenty of traditional parking spaces out front.  Currently, there are six vacant units ranging from 1,748 square feet up to 4,800 square feet, with office/warehouse ratios from 45 percent up to 95 percent.   The property is carefully maintained by local management and each of the vacant units are move-in ready with new carpet and paint.  Contact Russ Pearson with Harbinger Property Group at (913) 890-2015 or rpearson@harbingerkc.com for more information or to schedule a tour.