KCRag Forum

Project was just added to Loopnet.

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/13th-An ... /19055135/

“Power Tower” the team behind Strata formed sometime around 2009-2015.

https://bsd.sos.mo.gov/BusinessEntity/B ... tityDetail

https://www.kansascity.com/news/busines ... 64186.html

This article says construction will not start until mid-2021.

kboish wrote: ↑Tue May 26, 2020 10:15 am https://www.kansascity.com/news/busines ... 64186.html

This article says construction will not start until mid-2021.

First half 2021. Their financing now requiring some leases

80% of employees, work from home went better than expected and my friends are now wondering why they need an office building and the associated expenses.

Steve52 wrote: ↑Tue May 26, 2020 2:33 pm 80% of employees, work from home went better than expected and my friends are now wondering why they need an office building and the associated expenses.

I've heard the opposite from many friends who miss the office environment. I for one was happy to get OUT of my home and back to work!

Gartner survey...

https://www.crn.com/news/running-your-b ... 19-gartner

According to Gartner, about 25 percent of those surveyed expect 10 percent of their employees will remain remote, 17 percent expect 20 percent will remain remote, 4 percent expect 50 percent will remain remote, and 2 percent expect over 50 percent of employees now working from home to permanently work from home after the pandemic subsides.

Gartner in an earlier survey found that 20 percent of respondents have deferred on-premises technology spend, and an additional 12 percent said they plan to do so. Another 13 percent of respondents have already cut real estate expenses, while another 9 percent plan to do so in the coming months.

Even w/out COVID, seems plausible demand for office space will reduce over time as work from home technology continues to improve. Investment in WFH tech has shot up recently. The last couple companies I worked for were trending more and more workers toward WFH (or anywhere) for last 10 years anyway. I was work from 'anywhere' for many years before leaving corporate IT last year.

I was made to work from home starting in late March. My company dealt with upgrade pains for a few weeks but got it dialed in to having roughly 80-90% of a 4000 strong workforce work from home. Overall things have gone smoothly & I can work effectively from home. However distractions are higher & I do miss out on the valuable socialization & The open collaboration that comes from that socialization. The pop up meetings & ppl stopping by is missed, as lot of those interactions solved things quickly in an informal setting. I enjoy the social aspects of work as it becomes part of who you are to a degree. I know I could not work from home ongoing as an optional choice

From what I could tell experiencing and architecting WFH/WFA environments for many years in corporate IT, seems introverted leaning people prefer work from home with option to go into office at times and extroverted leaning people prefer office with option to WFH at times. WFH can be harder to pull off with kids at home. The technology is certainly getting better to allow most office jobs that option and will continue to improve. HR systems are even updated to establish full or part time WHF status and triggers a separate onboarding process, including the way equipment is issued.

The COVID event forced more companies into building up infrastructure to support WFH so may continue now that they've invested more into it, especially if they find more savings by keeping more workers at home (and some have said they do find more savings). The impact could hurt office industry as leases are renewed, at least some.

If I were an office developer, would design new buildings with possible conversion to residential in mind. Everything I'm investing in (private equity world) needs a Plan B like that or similar ways to reduce risk. And Plan B needs to be relatively easy (cost effective) to pull off.

I think having a Plan B makes sense. Companies will look at ways for some people to work at home based on job function and role. Plus may be easier to hit ADA hiring or providing providing opportunities for those who rely exclusively on public transit or transportation services. By allowing for WFH those individuals might have better work experiences. I think this experience will change us to look at things in different ways, maybe encourage those who are needed to be in an office environment more of a dedicated space and not jammed into tiny cubes/desk on top of each other or in a giant open work space with no barriers & tight seating quarters. The opportunity for redesign of what the office looks like will be interesting to see.

From KCBJ:

Biery said schematic design is complete for the office tower, and construction drawings will commence after the ongoing survey and platting process is complete with the city.

Biery said Copaken Brooks is "working feverishly" to pre-lease Strata's space. Though he said the office tower has seen interest from national companies looking to establish a new headquarters or large satellite office.

A 1st half 2021 construction start is expected.

So Cordish/Copaken are all good now?

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Thu Jul 16, 2020 9:34 pm So Cordish/Copaken are all good now?

There's some bad blood there but it's been settled. Cordish was planning to build an office tower on that site and had patiently waited over a decade to get the rights. Cordish is more upset with H&R for essentially screwing them out of the original deal.

DColeKC wrote: ↑Fri Jul 17, 2020 2:23 pm
There's some bad blood there but it's been settled. Cordish was planning to build an office tower on that site and had patiently waited over a decade to get the rights. Cordish is more upset with H&R for essentially screwing them out of the original deal.

I would be upset too if another developer came in and wanted to build on a site that was originally set, or at least seemed, to be coming my way (if I were a developer). No doubt Cordish will find the spot in the P&L District for an office tower, or maybe include some space in the future 4 Light.

New brochure. Basically the same but some changes




https://f37d5f78-a978-485b-89fa-0c27de5 ... dccbcd.pdf

normalthings wrote: ↑Wed Jul 22, 2020 6:33 pm New brochure. Basically the same but some changes




https://f37d5f78-a978-485b-89fa-0c27de5 ... dccbcd.pdf

Image link doesn't work for me

Hard to tell but appears main entrance will be in the alley close to Hilton President? Looks like the long planned entrance on main in the center is still blank.

Still a chance they could lease or purchase the garment district space which make an excellent grand lobby.

This looks like an entrance on Main?

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:58 pm This looks like an entrance on Main?

Haven’t seen that angle. Does look like they’re using the preplanned Main Street entrance. Would hate to see that blank space not used.

All it's missing is the red Target logo.