A Year in Review: BRES' Top CRE Developments

In 2014, as the Kansas City economy began to gain steam and with that momentum so did Block Real Estates Services, LLC (BRES) deals and developments.  In light of the year coming to an end, BRES, decided to review some our top commercial real estate (CRE) deals. Below are some of the most note worthy deals of 2014:

BRES' CRE Deal of the Week - Pinnacle Corporate Centre V

Hunter Johnson, Max Wasserstrom, and Ken Block of Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES)

completed a long-term lease of Class-A office space in Leawood, Kansas.

Market Report 2015 Sneak Peak--Day 10 HAPPY HOLIDAYS

All of us at Block Real Estate Services (BRES) would like to take this time to wish you a safe and wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year!

Market Report 2015 Sneak Peak - Day 9 Block Multifamily Group

Block Multifamily Group (BMG) saw growth in several metropolitan areas during the year, each

WaterCrest at City Center

with a specialized strategic action plan.

All eyes in Lenexa, Kansas focused on Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES) Class A Property- WaterCrest at City Center.  BMG was charged with developing the leasing and marketing plan for this 308 unit property and hired an experienced leasing and management team for WaterCrest.  The team has demonstrated a successful blending of leasing, management and community involvement at the property level. While significant pre-leasing took place in the second quarter, occupancy began in earnest during September.  With a state of the art fitness center, a resort style pool and luxurious clubhouse amenities, WaterCrest sets the bar for Class A multifamily.

Market Report 2015 Sneak Peak - Day 8 Healthcare

The healthcare real estate market, much like it was in last year’s edition, continues to establish itself

as one of the most active sectors in commercial real estate.  Often described as a “recession resistant” sector in the real estate industry, the medical asset class continues to provide stable returns to the real estate investor.  Many factors contribute to this being such a strong asset-class, but two, simple key characteristics that drive this stability are that regardless of economic conditions, individuals get sick, and the baby-boom generation is ever increasing the aging population.

Market Report 2015 Sneak Peak - Day 7 Office

As office markets saw positive strides in 2014, the Kansas City Metropolitan area real estate border war continued to impact many of the cities’ key submarkets. 

Following the national trend of an overall lower unemployment rate, United States office market vacancy rate closed at 11.2%, down from 12.1% at the close of 2013.  The decline in vacancy was helped by the overall positive absorption over the past year of 92 million square feet of space.  This positive impact was helped by the United States adding more than two million jobs since the beginning of the year, which our country has not seen since 1999.

Market Report 2015 Sneak Peak - Day 6 Investment

Looking back to the 2014 Kansas City and National Investment Market section, our predictions and

summary going forward were as follows:

“As pricing continues to increase in Gateway cities, secondary and tertiary markets will receive increased attention from debt and equity looking for suitable risk adjusted returns.  Foreign investors’ interest will continue to grow in U.S. commercial real estate as the preferred market for safety of investments and prospects of capital appreciation.  Underwriting standards from a debt and equity perspective should continue to loosen, but do not expect standards to return to the pre-recession frenzy.”

Market Report 2015 Sneak Peak - Day 5 Multifamily

The multifamily market maintained the top spot among commercial real estate asset classes for

investors in 2014.  High resident demand, record low vacancies, continuously rising rental rates, minimal concessions and low interest rates have attracted capital from Wall Street to Main Street, with major institutions and local operators aggressively pursuing property acquisitions and development.  This has driven up pricing across property classes and markets nationwide, a distinct differentiation from other commercial property types.

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Market Report 2015 Sneak Peak - Day 4 Industrial

Kansas City Metro area is the place to be for e-commerce businesses to locate, according to a recent

Lenexa Logistics Centre - Amazon

United Parcel Service (UPS) study. Their number one hub is in Lenexa, Kansas. Zumiez.com, a national distribution and publicly traded company, hired FedEx, UPS and an arbitrary third-party logistics company to perform a study to tell them where to put one distribution center for all of their .com distribution; and, the answer was Kansas City! FedEx has all but said that based upon their traffic and their expansion, they believe Kansas City is the right place for e-commerce companies to locate their distribution centers as well.

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Market Report 2015 Sneak Peak - Day 3 "The top trends in real estate for 2015"

The top trends in real estate for 2015, according to Emerging Trends, include the following:

1. The 18-hour city comes of age.  The increase in downtown transformations combining the key ingredients of housing, retail, dining, and walk-to-work offices will cause increased investment and development in the next level of cities outside of 24-hour markets.  These re-emerging downtown's will be “18-hour” markets and will include places like Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Denver, and perhaps in the future, Kansas City.  The key to 18-hour markets is the City’s ambition to strengthen its urban centers as live/work/play environments.

2. The changing age game.  Millennials prefer renter by choice multifamily housing versus home ownership. Expect this to be at least a seven year trend before millennials will have to make a decision about whether to stay urban or move to the suburbs.  Expect the over $1 trillion in student debt to further slow home ownership for this group.  With 77 million baby boomers on the leading edge of retirement age, expect an increase in resort and retirement communities as well as more movement from home ownership to rental living.  Also, anticipate medical office as a strengthening trend to serve the aging boomers market.

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The Essential Piece of the Pie: Property Managers and Budgeting

Since there have been commercial buildings there has been a need to manage them and measure their profitability – hence, the occupations of property managers and property accountants. In the commercial real estate industry it's no secret that accounting for property managers can be a daunting, yet necessary key to running a successful property for the owners. Here are few tips to help shed some light on how to assimilate the information necessary to build a plan, a budget, and the parts these play in the financial statements.

Market Report 2015 Sneak Peak - Day 2 Downtown

Residential interest remains strong in the downtown submarket.  Three major residential projects are

currently underway.  One Light and the residential conversions of Commerce Tower and the Kansas City Power and Light building are in progress and receiving positive interest.  One Light, located at 13th Walnut is nearly $80 million and 25-stories.  The project will hold 315 units and boasts of a waiting list of 1,000.  The project is 343,000 square feet with an anticipated completion date of 2015 and discussions of another tower are already circulating.  Plans for Commerce Tower are to reduce the 439,000 square foot office property to 82,000 square feet of office and converting the balance to residential units.

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Market Report 2015 Sneak Peak - Day 1 Kansas City Economy

Kansas City Economy.

In 2014, the Kansas City economy began to gain steam.  Industry leaders included the automobile

industry, IT, and the health sectors as they have in the past, but the addition of E-commerce and the intermodal have also become major influences.  For the third year in a row, Cerner made the biggest headlines when they broke ground on their innovation campus on the Three Trails Crossing campus.  This project which will span 10 years and will add nearly 4.5 million square feet of office space will now hold over 16,000 new Cerner employees, which increased by 1,000 employees over prior projections.

BRES' #CRE Deal of the Week - Retail Sale in Kansas City

Kim Bartalos of Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES) closed on the sale of a retail building in

Kansas City, Missouri.

Overland Park Kansas Remains Nationally Recognized City

When it comes to locations, commercial real estate developers know it pays to be in areas at the top

of the list. Overland Park, Kansas has received dozens of top awards in the last few years recognizing it as one of the most livable cities in the nation. It’s one of many reasons Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES) chose a prime Overland Park locale for CityPlace, a premier multi-use development with projected occupancy to begin by spring 2016.

BRES' #CRE Deal of the Week - MOB Wyco Sale

Stephen Block, Ken Block and Steve Bessenbacher closed on the sale of a medical office building in

Kansas City, Kansas.

Thanksgiving: How to Keep Your CRE Traditions Alive

Keeping Thanksgiving traditions alive demands orchestrating and arranging many elements to make the ideal day.  Just like Thanksgiving Day, keeping up with commercial real estate (CRE) traditions require the right amount of collaboration and proper engagement to make everything come together. In light of the Thanksgiving holiday this week, Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES) decided to show how keeping up with traditions is very much like fostering relations in the CRE industry.

Is Your Website Mobile Friendly? If Not It's Time!

When Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES) launched their mobile site in 2013 roughly 45% of Americans had a smartphone. Now, a year after launch, that number has climbed to 58%, according to Pew Research.  Updating content and performing maintenance on a website is a year round requirement while refreshing the design can be done at longer intervals.  Don't get behind, read more on how to start or enhance your current mobile site:

BRES' #CRE Deal of the Week - Silpada

Lou Serrone, Michael Block, and Ken Block of Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES) completed

a long-term lease in Lenexa, Kansas.

Office Rehab: Are You Thinking Outside the Cube?

Thinking outside the cube can be challenging especially when it comes to redesigning office space. The current corporate market is as it tries to meet the growing demands of the workforce, and better understand the effect work environment has on productivity.  By doing so, corporations are redesigning work spaces, providing workplace amenities, and researching elements that allow employees to be increasingly productive. Most companies can't afford to completely redesign their space, so if you are looking to elevate the mood and spice up your office here are 4 tips to keep in mind:

Retail Redevelopment - What Can it Do For You?

Rising from the ashes of 2008, retail properties in the commercial real estate market are starting to recover. Developers and retail shop owners alike are spending more of their time and money on existing properties instead of on new retail locations. By enhancing their existing facilities they are seeing an improvement in their investment. Improvements range from a simple renovation to a complete redevelopment.

Amenities, Amenities...It's all about the Amenities to Attract the Right Clientele?

Gone are the days when a simple pool and a lone treadmill were the only amenities needed in the
multifamily market. Now properties that are under construction or in the development stage must find ways to provide unique and enticing amenities to attract individuals to the development. To accomplish this, these properties are focusing in on a few amenities such as the location, finishes, and layout.

BRES' CRE Deal of the week - NWC Industrial

Michael Block and Austin Paul of Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES), who represented the

tenant, completed a long-term lease in Bonner Springs, Kansas.

5 Spooky Mistakes When Welcoming A New Tenant

Welcoming a new tenant to your property can be outright bone chilling when things don't go as planned. Don't let the horror get to you! We have constructed a few tips to help you avoid any spooky mistakes so you don't have a tenant move-in nightmare:

BRES Deal of the Week - Pine Ridge West

Grant Reves, Brian Beggs, Aaron Mesmer and Ken Block of Block Real Estate Services, LLC

(BRES) closed on the sale of an industrial building in the Pine Ridge Business Park.

CRE Leadership Roles we can learn from the KC Royals

The World Series is here and our beloved KC Royals have fought every bit along the way.To get

where they are today they have battled to make to the World Series.  It's the same in Commercial Real Estate, we have our ups and downs, but determination and dedication are what gets us to the next deal.  Here are some same lessons the Royals endear that can be applied to CRE:

BRES #CRE Deal of the week - Pine Ridge

Grant Reves, Aaron Mesmer, Brian Beggs, and Ken Block of Block Real Estate Services, LLC

(BRES) closed on the sale of an office building in Pine Ridge Business Park.

BRES' #CRE Deal of the Week - Pinnacle Corporate Centre V

Hunter Johnson, Max Wasserstrom, and Ken Block of Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES)

completed a long-term lease of Class-A office space in Leawood, Kansas.

A Change Of Seasons: Prep Your Property for Fall

Is your property fall ready?  Each season your property goes through changes in  weather conditions, and gets one season older! To keep your property in tip top shape year round it's helpful to conduct seasonal maintenance. Taking the measures today to prepare your property for the changing season assists with minimizing the damages associated with the change of seasons.  Below are a few helpful tips to get a jump on the season and prep your property for the changing seasons:

Google- Are you at the top of the list?

There are approximately 11.944 billion, yes Billion, searches performed on Google each month. This amounts to roughly 67.5% of all searches performed. Because of this large market share placing a focus on Google during the development of digital content and a commercial real estate webpage is a necessary task for ranking high in search engine results. There are three main areas to consider when developing these: Content, Linkbacks and Keywords.

4 Tech Apps That Help Boost #CRE Customer Satisfaction

Everyone can agree that in the realm of commercial real estate everyone is on-the-go. Having tech tools to aid while out and about can increase the average CRE professionals everyday activities and make them more efficient! Here are our favorite tech tools that supplement daily business routines and help with instant document turnaround to aid in customer satisfaction:

BRES' CRE Deal of the Week - 6130 Equitable

Chris Cargill, Zach Hubbard and Ken Block of Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES) executed a long-term industrial lease in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Earth Just Moved at CityPlace

With a ceremonial first turn of the soil, September 24, 2014 marked the official start of construction at Block Real Estate Services’ CityPlace, a mixed use development in Overland Park, Kansas. CityPlace will feature Class A office buildings, multi-family residences, retail services, restaurants and senior living, all connected in one vibrant and energetic community.

Marketing to Millennials-Are You Positioned Correctly?

Millennials are the largest and most educated generation currently. Because of their size they have impacted the way companies and even property management companies are communicating with their customers. Most have switched to methods of creating a personalized communication as this is the type of communication the Millennial generation has responded the best to. A personalized communication is a unique message that utilizes nicknames, culture specific terms and unique vocabulary. With traditional media channels creating a unique interaction is next to impossible. This is why property management companies of multifamily units are turning even more to social media and websites to reach out and connect on a personal level with the Millennial audience.

Why Fly When You Can SIOR?

Do you have an SIOR in your office? Satisfying the credentials of an SIOR is more than attending
meetings, taking tests, and paying dues. SIOR's are experts in the commercial real industry with the proven reputation, experience, and transaction volume that allow them to sior to new heights.

BRES' Deal of the Week - 4400 Corporate Centre

Grant Reves, Brian Beggs, Ken Block and Aaron Mesmer teamed up for the investment sale of 4400

College Boulevard in Overland Park, Kansas.

Identifying the Pieces to Your Mixed-Use Puzzle

Imagine you are putting a puzzle together. You have an idea of what the final image will be, but it is slightly fuzzy. Not a problem, right? What if the pieces for it were mixed in with the pieces of five other, very similar, puzzles. Did it just get harder? This is what it's like when trying to determine the pieces of a new mixed-use development. In order to find the right pieces you must narrow the available options down.

Supercharge Your Strategy: Make Your Booth Shine Bright

Why blend in when you can stand out? Supercharge your company's event booth and enhance your brands' visibility while promoting, generating leads, and potentially driving sales. Below are 4 tips that will help you execute a successful event that allows your company to shine bright!

Back Packs and Budget Season- What do they have in common?

It’s time for Back To School!  As I was helping my children organize their back packs for the first day of
school, I realized that just like my children, Property Managers need a “back pack” full of items for their budget season.

BRES' Deal of the Week - Betallic Business Center

Aaron Mesmer, Brian Beggs, and Grant Reves of Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES)

teamed up to complete the acquisition of an Industrial Park in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

Class A, Class B or Class C: Special Orders Don't Upset Us

You need a "special sized CRE Space" we can help you! Got Questions?  We have the answers!

In the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) field there are many questions that need to be answered before

CityPlace Class A Office

narrowing down the property list for a buyer.  Did you know there are three different types of office space?  Class A, Class B and Class C. Buildings are given a classification depending on the quality of building materials, the location, and the onsite or surrounding amenities.

BRES' Deal of the Week - Park 370 Business Center

Aaron Mesmer, Brian Beggs, Grant Reves, and Ken Block recently teamed up to complete the acquisition

of an industrial park outside of St. Louis, Missouri.

BRES' Deal of the Week - The Wynn at Edmond Crossing

Aaron Mesmer, Brian Beggs, Grant Reves, Kenneth G. Block, and Eric Walesh  closed on the sale of a multifamily 100 unit complex in Edmond, Oklahoma.

5 CRE Networking Tips To Help You Stand Out

NETWORKING IS KING! Becoming a strong commercial real estate professional can rely on networking and establishing core connections. Networking is easy if you do it right, and can be done everywhere. Below, are five networking tips that allow you to stand out in CRE:

BRES' Deal of the Week - North Kansas City Industrial

Chris Cargill and Michael Block of Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES) closed on the sale of an

industrial building in North Kansas City, Missouri.

Business Tips to Look for When Leasing Your Property

There are many tips out there designed to help you during the office leasing process, but what should you consider before starting the process of contacting a broker and looking at properties?  There are three areas that will help you identify your real needs in a new building and speed the overall process along:

• Timing 
• Location
• Space

3 Ways to Foster Tenant Relations

Fostering tenant relationships is essential in property management. With the current market belonging to renters it is crucial for property managers to sharpen skills, attract new prospects, satisfy current tenants, and adhere to achieving ideal rental rates. At Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES) our property managers incorporate a variety of strategies to effectively harbor positive environments and add value to our properties. Below, we assembled three tactics that help foster a positive tenant relationship:

BRES' Deal of the Week - University Villa Apartments

Rosie Kiene of Block Real Estate Services, LLC. (BRES) closed on the sale of a Multifamily 108-Unit

Apartment Community in Kansas City, Kansas.

Healthcare Development Trends of 2014

Medical practices have ascended into a new era of supply and demand that is stimulating the push for ground breaking developments and new renovations.  The healthcare development market stands extremely competitive due to the scarcity of existing developments and  available capital. Aiding in these efforts, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased emphasis on wiser decisions by investors and physicians to reduce costs and enhance patient experiences. Here are a few trends to consider when staying  on top of healthcare development.

Commercial Real Estate Construction Continues to Grow in Kansas City

When asked in January 2013 about the state of the construction industry JE Dunn Construction CEO Terry Dunn said, "the signs are positive." In the article from Kansas City Business Journal he gave predictions of continued growth for the Kansas City region over the next 2-3 years. Reaching levels seen in 2006 before the recession adversely affected the industry.

BRES' Deal of the Week - Express Scale Parts- Industrial

Zach Hubbard, Brian Beggs, Aaron Mesmer and Grant Reves of Block Real Estate Services, LLC (BRES)

closed on the sale of a Lenexa, Kansas Office/Warehouse building.

CityPlace: A Place Connected.

Just as architects are in the process of designing the final attributes of CityPlace, Johnson County’s newest

and most unique mixed-use development, it now has a new brand identity that articulates all that the development has to offer.

The name itself, CityPlace, is a play on two separate words that are connected. It signifies a vibrant community that provides residents the opportunity to live, work and play in one energetic neighborhood.