Bannister Mall/Cerner

[aknowledgeableperson]

What was said two years ago could also be applied to a few areas in the city core. Do a Detroit.

That is probably the cheapest, easiest way out of a problem or two but is it the right way? You have an area with great highway access and visibility. An area that is closer to the city core than many neighborhoods in the Northland. What the right project is I do not know. But then maybe that is the problem - looking for something big. Instead why not try and develop a portion here and a portion there. Or turn it into an industrial park. True that might compete with what is happening at RG but it wouldn't be at that scale.

[carnellmanning74]

passed by ward parkway mall there is construction on the south side on stateline does anyone know what going or pic of whats coming soon on that site

[earthling]

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/08/01/43 ... pment.html

Group led by Cerner execs pursuing major office development on former Bannister Mall property

The 220-acre project is being pursued by Trails Properties II, a company established by Neal Patterson and Cliff Illig, senior executives at Cerner Corp., to develop the property in south Kansas City. The Three Trails development is expected to include offices and retail.

“We are under contract with an entity that would buy the entire site,” Simmons said.

Cerner is expected to make an announcement later today.

[earthling]

Cerner announcement...

http://www.cerner.com/Cerner_Enters_Int ... Mall_Site/

Cerner Corp. (Nasdaq: CERN) has entered into an agreement to purchase approximately 237 acres in the Three Trails Crossing region on the site of the former Bannister Mall, pending the completion of due diligence activities and the securing of appropriate financial incentives. The company plans to use the location as a site to accommodate expected growth.

“Cerner’s significant growth necessitates that we plan now to accommodate our future space needs,” said Marc Naughton, chief financial officer. Naughton added that if conditions to close are satisfied, it is anticipated the purchase would be completed by the end of 2013. Cerner already employs 2,866 associates at its nearby Innovation campus. The new site would be an extension of that campus. Cerner currently employs 8,794 in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The expanded campus, if constructed, would potentially house 12,000-15,000 additional associates upon full build-out, which would be based on Cerner’s growth and occur over an extended period.

Cerner anticipates the extended campus would include on-site daycare, a clinic for associates, fitness facilities, food service and training spaces. It could also house future data centers as needed. A portion of the site may be made available to be developed as retail stores, restaurants, or a hotel.

Housing up to 15K employees in addition to 2800 in the current Cerner site sounds like it could be as big or bigger than Sprint campus. BTW, Cerner passed up Sprint over last year in local employment.

[grovester]

On face value, this looks awesome.

[kcmetro]

Damn, wish they were building something downtown.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Hey, they are building in KCMO not JoCo. That should be bringing joy to those who favor KCMO.

[kboish]

Cerner never had any inclining to build DT. I'm glad this is going in an area of KCMO that was in desperate need of jobs/housing/something. I hope their growth is as large and quick as they project...

[KCMax]

Hey, they are building in KCMO not JoCo. That should be bringing joy to those who favor KCMO.

Yea, this is nothing but good news. They've also been saying they wanted to use the site for years - even after they opened the Legends site, so this isn't really surprising and I never really got the anger and despair when they decided not to put their KCK office here.

[knucklehead]

Thanks to Cerner for doing something positive in an area that needs it.

government incentives make a lot more sense at Bannister than they do at College and Nall (Teva) or 118th and Nall (AMC).

There is so much retail now in Lees Summit and Independence that I can't see doing a big retail center at Bannister. Office is great.

[DaveKCMO]

sits right on the rail line jackson county studied as part of the US-71 corridor...

[earthling]

^"Synergy" is a corporate cliche term but this qualifies as Cerner could be a nice boost to justify commuter rail line through there and the commuter rail line could eventually justify more development in the Cerner district and that entire line.

No matter how you slice it, this is an awesome commitment and investment by Cerner if triggered (and looks like a good chance now). With a commitment and project this large, it could change the entire economy of S KC. While downtown would have been nice, KC S of the River outside downtown to Plaza has needed a big boost and this is paradigm shifting stuff if fully executed as planned, maybe moreso than a mall.

[flyingember]

While downtown would have been nice, KC S of the River outside downtown to Plaza has needed a big boost and this is paradigm shifting stuff if fully executed as planned, maybe moreso than a mall.

I'm always amazed how people talk about the suburbs being outside KC, forgetting that the suburbs basically start at 48th St.

There's nothing wrong with building a jobs ring along 435 and US 71. If that's the alternative to companies escaping to JoCo...

[earthling]

I was wondering if up to 15K jobs at new site could mean shifting jobs from other KC sites but that doesn't seem to be the intent...

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n ... l?page=all

Would think some smaller sites might still move but is interesting that Cerner expects to have that many 'net new jobs' in KC through rest of decade wherever they may be located. Is other side of awesome they intend to grow that much in KC, which could easily go to their other sites around the world - maybe some jobs will shift from other global sites to KC.

It could be cheap talk (15K) but buying the entire mall site suggests this isn't BS, even if half that would still be significant. I wonder if they have a minimum commitment of jobs with State of MO for the tax break.

[kboish]

Here is the most important part from the article IMO.

Cerner did not say how long it might take to reach that employment level, only that the build-out would be based on the company's growth and occur during an extended period.

Neither has the company announced when the first jobs might be added at the Bannister site. But Tidwell said office construction could start there as early as 2014.

In 2015, Cerner is expected to get a major boost from the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health, or HITECH, Act. Passed as part of the 2009 federal stimulus package, HITECH in 2015 will start penalizing health care providers who have not implemented electronic medical record technology by reducing their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

[earthling]

Yeah, at the rate of growth they claim, they'll fill up KCK site quickly so would need to start construction on this site ASAP.

The side effect non-Cerner job growth across the metro could also be fairly significant. Sprint only employs about 7-8K in KC but that is only on their direct payroll, they have maybe 100 companies that support them as contractors/consultants and IT support, like IBM, HP, EMC, Ericson and other companies that have created KC jobs dedicated to Sprint.

Cerner may not have as much outside dependency but when talking that scale of business growth, there's probably a decent side effect job growth that goes with it across the metro including downtown. PricewatherhouseCoopers recently added more jobs downtown (100?), maybe partly due to Cerner. Companies that support Cerner may locate downtown as it's central to and has direct freeway access to all other Cerner sites.

[Eon Blue]

Companies that support Cerner may locate downtown as it's central to and has direct freeway access to all other Cerner sites.

That's a great point, and hopefully the City's eco devo hounds are on that scent.

[Highlander]

Damn, wish they were building something downtown.

My sentiments. This is a bit of a disappointment (actually a major disappointment considering the scale) and throwing good money after bad in trying to redevelop a site that just isn't ready to be anything other than what it will be - an office building or two for Cerner. I don't understand the reasoning here; put this downtown and some employees will want to live near it, it has a chance of being part of critical mass; downtown has amenities, it's a cool place. Put it in an economically downtrodden burb and employees will commute and be glad when its quitting time and they can get back to Lees Summit or JoCo. Glad it's going to be in KCMO but the site makes this pretty much a wasted effort.

KC's infrastructure and business distribution still far too dispersed for the size of a city that it is. There's precious little critical mass due the lack of density of development everywhere but DT, greater College Blvd and the Plaza.

[kcexpress]

Damn, wish they were building something downtown.

I was feeling the same way, but very happy they're choosing a site that has been depressed for years. I hope they use every bit of space available. I can't wait to see diagrams!!

[aknowledgeableperson]

I don't understand the reasoning here

Easy. Cerner can do what they want to do in the space they need and at a cost that is within its means.