BOMA joins other organizations to host 2012 CRE Expo
Commercial real estate professionals gathered Wednesday at Union Station for the 2012 Kansas City Commercial Real Estate Expo, an event that combined networking, exhibits and educational sessions.
For the first time, the expo also included a panel discussion that featured the presidents and chairs of BOMA, ASHRAE, IFMA and IREM, all of which sponsored the expo along with the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. The panelists were BOMA’s Boyd Zoccola of Hokanson Companies, Inc.; ASHRAE’s Ron Jarnagin of Pactific Northwest National Laboratory; IREM’s James A. Evans, CPM, of Bruce G. Pollack & Associates, Inc., and IFMA’s Kathy O. Roper, CFM, MCR, LEED AP, IFMA of the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Building Construction.
During the discussion, moderated by Chuck Connelly of the Lewis Wright Real Estate Center, the participants shared their thoughts on a number of key issues, including the economy, property management, legislative issues, the value of sustainability and new technology enhancements and how they’re being used in the CRE industry.
After the discussion, the expo kicked off with 126 exhibitors both local and nationwide, as well as a number of educational sessions that included information on LEED, construction recycling and leadership in sustainability, among other topics. BOMA’s Katie Cone says the event was a huge success.
“The expo was great—very well-attended,” she says. “I believe we surpassed our numbers from last year.”
More opportunities to mix and mingle with BOMA members are coming up. On June 28, BOMA and YREP will host an Emerging Professionals Summer Happy Hour from 5 to 7 p.m. at O’Dowd’s on the Plaza. Any young professionals involved with the real estate industry are invited to attend and network with their colleagues.
Additionally, BOMA’s annual golf tournament will be held on September 10 at Tiffany Greens Golf Course. Visit BOMA-KC’s website for details on the organization and upcoming events.
Images via BOMA-KC
Union Station hits leasing milestone
Image via Union Station
Over the last few years, Union Station has been in the midst of a revival—and that transformation hit a milestone this week when the iconic Kansas City landmark reached 100 percent occupancy of its available office space.
Two new tenants helped Union Station fill its remaining occupancy: Integrity Computer Services and the Frontier School System.
Leasing available office space has become an important part of Union Station’s long-term strategy, which has been a focus since the building was restored and reopened in 1999 as a result of a previously unprecedented bistate sales tax.
The facility has also cut costs and has implemented a bigger push to bring in nationally renowned exhibits like “Diana: A Celebration” and “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition,” all of which add up to increased earnings for the building.
Other occupants include the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas City Area Development Council, both of which moved to Union Station at the end of 2012. The Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners, the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Life Sciences Institute also lease space at Union Station.
VinSolutions expands regional office
As a result of growing operations, VinSolutions expanded its regional office into 17,962 square feet of space in Mission Tower, located in Mission, Kan.
Susan Smith. Image via Zimmer Real Estate Services
Susan Smith, vice president of sales and leasing at Zimmer Real Estate Services, represented the landlord, Bannister Realty. Ryan Schneider of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant in the transaction.Mission
VinSolutions consolidates data from all areas of an automotive dealership, which helps dealers find, sell and keep customers with a fully integrated Dealership Marketing System. The company’s all-in-one internal management and external sales and service marketing solutions platform offers dealers a number of services, including search marketing, online advertising, social media marketing, mobile marketing, websites, CRM, sales force automation, appraisal, finance and more.