Briarcliff Development will construct a $44 million office building and $40 million hotel after the TIF Commission of Kansas City endorsed an incentive covering nearly 30 percent of an anticipated $91 million outlay. Super TIF will return all sales and other economic activities taxes generated by the project to the developer. The usual diversion is 50 percent.
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is moving downtown, shifting from Olathe. Officials see the move as a way to energize a membership whose number has declined by about 10 percent since the association moved back to Kansas City from Tulsa.
Dunn HQ Ready to be Built
The way is cleared for JE Dunn Construction to build its $30 million headquarters, which will anchor the East Village redevelopment. The 190,000 square-foot headquarters will take 18 to 20 months to build. The East Village’s plans also call for about 1,200 housing units to be built by Swope Community Builders.
The TIF Commission of Kansas City approved a request to use taxes produced by a $49.3 million condo tower at 19th Street and Broadway. Nearly $13 million is expected to be generated during the TIF plan’s 23-year lifespan and could be used to finance improvements elsewhere in the district. The 17-story tower will contain 125 to 145 units, selling for $350,000 to $400,000. Condo owners will be able to keep the abatement, estimated at $1,700 to $2,500 each year.
The team of Turner Construction and JE Dunn Construction Group has won the construction management job to renovate Arrowhead Stadium. The companies bid only on the staff portion of the contract, giving an estimate of manpower costs based on conceptual designs. This is the first true joint venture for Dunn and Turner, though the companies have worked together on various projects in a variety of roles.
A new $7 million, 67,000 square-foot lab complex for high-tech startups is being planned for Lawrence. The Kansas Bioscience Authority is making one of its largest individual contributions with a commitment of up to $3.4 million toward purchasing and renovating a building in the East Hills Business Park. The proposed project is the latest in a series of laboratory projects the authority has supported in Olathe, Manhattan and the University of Kansas Medical Center. Officials with the city of Lawrence and Douglas County will review the development, which would call for them to contribute up to $1.25 million each. The Kansas Bioscience Authority was created as part of a 2004 economic development package that’s expected to generate more than $580 million over 15 years.
The Leawood Planning Commission endorsed plans for the city’s first hotels to be built in the Park Place development. Proposed are a 208-room, extended-stay hotel and a 193-room hotel. Construction at Park Place, whose $350 million mixed-use plan also includes stores, offices and residential condos, began late in 2005.
Tower Properties has purchased Lockton Companies former headquarters at 7400 State Line, in Prairie Village, Kansas. The selling price wasn’t disclosed, but the two-story structure listed for $4.5 million. About 32,000 square feet is available, with the 20-year-old building’s sole tenant being Prudential Kansas City Realty.
The sale of Corporate Woods closed for approximately $290 million, which includes 2.2 million square feet of office space. The sale price represented the highest price ever paid for real estate in the metropolitan area. The size of the 300-acre park, nearly one-fifth of Johnson County’s office space, makes it another indication that the county’s office market is strengthening.
Members of the United Steelworkers ratified a proposed contract reached by union negotiators and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., ending a strike that began October 5. Approximately 1,100 Steel-workers in Topeka voted to accept the three-year contract, with Topeka’s margin three to one in favor. The strike idled more than 1,300 members of the union at the Topeka plant, which is the exclusive maker of Humvee tires needed by the military.
Westar Energy delayed the decision of where to build a new coal-fired plant for generating electricity, saying that higher cost estimates mean it may not be the cheapest way to meet future demands for power. In May 2005, the estimated cost of building the new plant was $1 billion and the projected cost is now up to $1.4 billion. The utility, which is the largest electric company in the state, had planned to select a site by the end of the year. Westar had previously said it hoped to have the new plant online by 2015.
General Motors will spend $208 million to prepare its Fairfax Assembly Plant to produce the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu. In addition to the Malibu and Malibu MAXX, the plant builds the Saturn Aura. No jobs are expected to be added to the plant, which currently employs approximately 2,900 people.