Real Estate and Development

Q&A With … Conner Beese, Copaken Brooks

Conner Beese is a broker at Copaken Brooks who specializes in the office market. He talked about how leasing has changed in the COVID-19 era. Q: Are there deals going on right now, and if so, what kinds of tenants… more

Waddell & Reed HQ Move Gets Final Council Approval

The city council of Kansas City recently gave final approval Waddell & Reed's headquarters move from Overland Park to Downtown Kansas City. In January, wealth-management firm signed a lease to go into a new 18-story 260,000-square-foot building at 1400 Baltimore… more

Council Approves $72.8M for Buck O’Neil Bridge

The city council in Kansas City has approved $72.8 million to pay for the replacement of the Buck O'Neil Bridge, which connects Downtown to north of the Missouri River. It is being paid for by a mix of bond issues… more

Best Buy Furloughs Hourly Employees

National electronics chain Best Buy, which operates eight stores in the Kansas City Metro area, is furloughing 51,000 hourly employees and nearly all of its part-time workers. The retailer switched to curbside-only business on March 22, due to COVID-19, and… more

A Record $601B in CRE Loans Closed in 2019

Before COVID-19 hit, the commercial real estate lending market was sure on a strong run. A record $600.6 billion of commercial real estate and multifamily loans in 2019, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) 2019 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance… more

March Housing Starts Plunge

March new-housing starts fell 23.1 percent from the prior month, according the the U.S. Census Bureau, hitting just over 1.2 million. However, that number was a 1.4 increase from March 2019. Meanwhile, housing completions also dropped, falling 6.1 percent month… more

Retail Sales Plunge in March

Retail sales in the United States fell 8.7 percent in March from the prior month and were down 6.2 percent year over year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  The plunge was due to impact from COVID-19. Clothing and accessories… more

Stimulus Check Would Cover Most KC Mortgages

More than half of Kansas City-area homeowners would be able to make a monthly mortgage payment and and cover their utilities with a $1,200 stimulus check, while a vast majority could make those expenditures with two checks totaling $2,400. Kansas… more

KC’s Industrial Vacancy Stays Low

The industrial commercial real estate sector was still on track during the first quarter, according to a recent CBRE report.  Vacancy rates were at 4.6 percent, the same as they were during the previous quarter, says the commercial real estate… more

Q&A With … Michael Sonnenberg, NAI Heartland

Michael Sonnenberg is a commercial real estate realtor at NAI Heartland, in Overland Park, where he is primarily focused currently on office and medical office properties. Q: How does the COVID-19 situation compare to the Great Recession and the challenges… more