Companies moving downtown

[earthling]

And they changed from 'recreate the skyline' to 'add to the skyline'. 17 floors not exactly recreating if that's the case.

[kenrbnj]

Nice sleuthing, NormalThings.

Given an average of 250-330sf per employee in a like-use environment; plus the ~1,100 employment projection; this is a 300,000SF building, given sole occupancy. If multi-tenant; who knows?

Inevitably, W&R will get their signage rights too. National advertising as a fringe benefit. With that, I hope their build-to-suit is a true landmark.

[normalthings]

Nice sleuthing, NormalThings.

Given an average of 250-330sf per employee in a like-use environment; plus the ~1,100 employment projection; this is a 300,000SF building, given sole occupancy. If multi-tenant; who knows?

Inevitably, W&R will get their signage rights too. National advertising as a fringe benefit. With that, I hope their build-to-suit is a true landmark.

Another user pinned the project at 17 floors. If it’s multi-tenant/used then it will either grow sideways or have a secondary tower to the west.

[GRID]

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... s_headline

skyscraper?

[KCLover]

Waddell & Reed plans Kansas City high rise — downtown’s third prospective office tower
https://www.kansascity.com/news/busines ... 02158.html

[KCLover]

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... s_headline

skyscraper?

In the article, "According to the documents, the company does not plan to develop its own building but instead lease space from a developer."

So probably a Multi-tenant tower. Guessing they will build much more than just space for W&R since there is increasing demand.

[GRID]

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... s_headline

skyscraper?

In the article, "According to the documents, the company does not plan to develop its own building but instead lease space from a developer."

So probably a Multi-tenant tower. Guessing they will build much more than just space for W&R since there is increasing demand.

Right, with a tenant of this size signed, a developer could easily build a 400-800k sq ft tower which would likly be in the 25-40 story range. But everybody has only been saying it will be a tower less than 20 floors. Guess time will tell, but this would be a great opportunity to get a large class A new construction multi tenant tower up. Then W&R can put their name on it even if only occupying 25-50% of it.

[KCDowntown]

TLDR - The only new (to this forum) & relevant bits of info in these articles that I could spot:

• W&R is Project Decoy

• W&R does not want to develop its own building, wants to lease in new building

• W&R cannot move into Strata, due to limitations based on the incentives for the building and W&R

• W&R has not talked to developers of 13th & Wyandotte building

KCDowntown

[KCPowercat]

13rh and main?

[FangKC]

I wish W&R would build their own building, since it would give us more a sense that they intend to stay downtown. I worry that they are just going to rent until their incentives expire, and then go incentive shopping again.

[earthling]

Curious no mention of 14th/Baltimore site.

[TheLastGentleman]

I have just as many questions now as I had before reading the article.

[langosta]

I wish W&R would build their own building, since it would give us more a sense that they intend to stay downtown. I worry that they are just going to rent until their incentives expire, and then go incentive shopping again.

Unless they are going to be a tenant in a much larger project. I’d love that

[KCMOJoe89]

I wish W&R would build their own building, since it would give us more a sense that they intend to stay downtown. I worry that they are just going to rent until their incentives expire, and then go incentive shopping again.

I also raised an eyebrow at their plan for a 15 year lease. I don't necessarily know how incentives are negotiated, but I'd think a longer lease would come attached. Maybe this is a standard lease in a downtown market? Or is W&R taking a trial run to see how the next 15 years shakes out for the downtown market?

As you mentioned, this could also be them leaving the door open to more incentives.

[langosta]

I wish W&R would build their own building, since it would give us more a sense that they intend to stay downtown. I worry that they are just going to rent until their incentives expire, and then go incentive shopping again.

I also raised an eyebrow at their plan for a 15 year lease. I don't necessarily know how incentives are negotiated, but I'd think a longer lease would come attached. Maybe this is a standard lease in a downtown market? Or is W&R taking a trial run to see how the next 15 years shakes out for the downtown market?

As you mentioned, this could also be them leaving the door open to more incentives.

15 years is longer than the standard 10 years we saw used during the 2008-2011 exodus to JoCo.

[WoodDraw]

The star needs to start doing a better job of explaining how incentives work. I am in no way saying they should take a position on the news side, but there is no way any normal person can read that article and have any understanding of what is happening.

We really need to get rid of some of this jargon...

[KCPowercat]

Should we break this into its own thread?

I'm not much of a size queen any longer but I want 25 stories on this baby minimum.

[earthling]

Collison's take...
https://cityscenekc.com/waddell-reed-co ... finalists/

The two sites that sources say are finalists are both next door to the Kansas City Power & Light District.

He then dives into the 13th/Grand and IBM 14th/Baltimore sites, the latter has family ties.

[GRID]

I hope they go with the Grand site. It seems like that would be part of a much larger project and downtown desperately needs a major investment like this east of Grand. The other site seems more fitting for a hotel but will likely be developed quickly regardless if W&R comes downtown. Plus, the Grand site would give W&R far more visibility with a larger and more visible tower they can put signage on. The only reason they would choose the Baltimore site seems to be because it would benefit a developer they have ties with. If they do go with the latter, I hope they can make the project larger and not just build a single use building just big enough for W&R. Not many opportunities like this to get a major tenant for a very large multi tenant building in KC though. This is a large enough tenant to put up a 30-40 story office tower with 300-400k sq ft spec in addition to W&R.

[earthling]

Grand would also be better for the need to better tie CBD into Govt district (and would better tie skyline as well). Build-to-suit is mentioned in other articles but also states they are only planning to lease, not own. So it would be an opportunity for a developer to target a spec building that is say 33-50% committed and 50-66% spec, whatever risk the developer can take. Would be a waste if they target a building just for W&R needs, especially if they don't plan to own their building. But freaking parking is unfortunately a factor.

A residential/office combo could be another approach, which has been speculated.