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.