KANSAS CITY, MO. AND LENEXA, KAN. — Pacific Sands Funds has purchased two multifamily properties in metro Kansas City for an undisclosed price. The first property is Chouteau Heights, a 76-unit apartment complex in the Sherwood Estates neighborhood of Kansas City. The second is Villas of Loiret, a 46-unit rental townhouse community in Lenexa. Chouteau Heights was built in 1964, while Villas of Loiret was constructed between 1999 and 2003. Pacific Sands plans to update both properties. Irvine, Calif.-based Pacific Sands maintains a portfolio of more than 500 units in southern California, Las Vegas, St. Louis and Kansas City. Seller information was undisclosed.
BELTON, MO. — Five Guys Burgers and Fries has opened a 3,000-square-foot location within Cedar Tree Shopping Center in Belton, about 20 miles south of Kansas City. Located at the northwest corner of I-49 and Highway 58, Cedar Tree underwent a $13 million renovation in 2017. The Five Guys location in Belton is the brand’s 11th restaurant in metro Kansas City.
With Kansas City unemployment hovering at cyclical lows around 3.5 percent and the war for talent at an all-time high, companies must leverage their real estate to attract and retain top talent. At the height of the corporate office boom in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the average space per employee ranged from approximately 275 to more than 325 square feet. Today, that number has shrunk to 175 square feet per employee and some predictions see that number moving even closer to 100 square feet. These changes are driven by a recognition that companies are adopting better workplace strategies. These newer, more efficient spaces deliver a more engaging experience for employees and provide a stronger return on real estate costs for companies. There is no denying that these new spaces cost more on a per-square-foot basis. Cushman & Wakefield research reported that the weighted average asking rate for Class A space in the Kansas City market was $25.04 per square foot on a full-service basis in the third quarter of 2019. Yet the net asking rates for the buildings with this new class of product range anywhere from the high $20s to the high $30s. Occupancy costs for new …
Private capital delivered several new investors to Kansas City in 2019 and the new year will undoubtedly see plenty of competitive bidding and elevated pricing. Overall, the investment market continues to be supported by Kansas City’s diversified economy, with job growth weighted on the Kansas side at 2.7 percent over Missouri’s 1.1 percent (as of August 2019). Targeting talent Kansas City’s low cost of living, educated workforce and business-friendly environment attracted several coastal employers to the Heartland. This trend will likely continue in 2020. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the relocation of two research agencies from Washington, D.C., representing a landmark win with 525 total jobs. Other wins in 2019 included Honeywell’s centralization of its operational offices from Seattle to Kansas City; Niagara Bottling moving 50 jobs from California; Hostess Brands relocating a distribution center from Illinois; and CarMax announcing 300 jobs for its Customer Experience Center after completing a nationwide search. Annual employment growth (as of August 2019) delivered nearly 20,000 jobs with additions in healthcare, biotech and business services, substantiating the selling point of a diversified economy capable of weathering future storms. Employers have found their fit, but more importantly, their talent is seeing reasons they can …
INDEPENDENCE, MO. — Block & Co. Inc. Realtors has arranged the sale of a 28.6-acre self-storage property in Independence for $10 million. The facility features 741 enclosed units and 450 parking stalls. William Glasgow of Block & Co. represented the seller, Lake City U-Store. The buyer, State Storage Group Kansas City LLC, plans to modernize the entire facility with computer-automated climate control and other technological systems.
O’FALLON, MO. — StorCo Storage has purchased the O’Fallon Square Shopping Center from O’Fallon Square Properties LLC for $4.4 million. The self-storage provider plans to construct a 100,000-square-foot, indoor self-storage facility within the strip center. The two-story, climate-controlled facility will include space formerly occupied by Altitude Trampoline Park and Shop ‘n Save. Other tenants at the shopping center, including At Home Superstore, Vantage Credit Union and Fantastic Sam’s, will remain in place. StorCo will move its headquarters, including a call center and corporate offices, to the new facility. American Bank of Missouri is providing $7.5 million in acquisition and construction financing for the project. Tim McFarland of Sansone Group and Patrick Wittenbrink of Carmody MacDonald PC represented StorCo in the transaction. Scott Seyfried of Pace Properties represented the seller.
The Kansas City industrial real estate market recorded very healthy maturation in 2019. When surveying the strength of our market, we typically consider how many new tenants or users entered the market with major investments and how many development deals were announced. Diving into the analytics, it is exciting to see some disciplined characteristics of a solid industrial market, including a slight slowdown in the pace of market expansion, a diverse group of business types demanding space, and the swift adjustment to appropriately balance supply and demand. Users entering the market The highlight reel of industrial deals in 2019 was impressive. Notable transactions include a new 420,000-square-foot water bottling plant for Niagara in South Kansas City, a 2 million-square-foot logistics hub expansion for Kubota Tractor Corp., and a 765,000-square-foot food distribution center for Hostess Brands. Additionally, Walmart just announced plans for a 1.8 million-square-foot distribution center to add to its existing three distribution centers in the area. A variety of new auto suppliers have absorbed over 1 million square feet of space to serve the Ford and General Motors automotive plants. I’m often asked what industries are moving to Kansas City and my response is all of them. The type …
ST. LOUIS — ElmTree Funds has sold a majority position in a portfolio of predominantly industrial and office properties to Guggenheim Investments. The gross asset value of the 18-property portfolio is approximately $900 million. St. Louis-based ElmTree began acquiring and developing the properties in 2016. The build-to-suit, net-leased assets are located in fast-growing metropolitan areas across the United States. ElmTree will manage the assets for Guggenheim and maintain a small equity portion. Notable properties in the portfolio include a 1.5 million-square-foot industrial facility in Dallas net leased to a confectionary manufacturer and a 500,000-square-foot industrial building in St. Louis net leased to a courier delivery services company.
ST. LOUIS — McCarthy Building Cos. has completed construction of the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station. The 120,000-square-foot, two-story attraction is situated inside a nearly 500,000-square-foot, 19th-century train shed designated as a national landmark. Featuring 1.3 million gallons of water and thousands of aquatic animals, the aquarium is the centerpiece of a $160 million family entertainment complex developed for Union Station by Lodging Hospitality Management. PGAV Destinations designed the project. ZoOceanarium Group will operate and manage the aquarium.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Kadean Construction has broken ground on a new $13 million warehouse and distribution facility at KCI Intermodal Business Centre in Kansas City. Known as Logistics Centre VI, the 349,440-square-foot building will feature a clear height of 32 feet, up to 67 dock positions and parking for 91 trailers and 390 cars. Completion is scheduled for June 2020. M+H Architects and Stock & Associates make up the project team. Trammell Crow Co. is the developer. Kadean previously built Logistics Centre II, III and IV and is in the process of completing Logistics Centre V.