Heartland Real Estate Business – January 14, 2007Kansas City Retail

Kansas City Retail Market

uring the next 3 years, retail develop- The reconfigured cen- Dment in the Kansas City metro area is ter will offer 2.3 million expected to grow at a pace unmatched square feet of retail, in recent history. According to Property office and residential and Portfolio Research Inc., Kansas City space. Redevelopment has 17.6 million square feet of new retail of both centers will be- space in the planning, bidding or post- gin this year. bidding stage. This ranks second in the Eastdil’s Antioch nation, exceeded only by Phoenix. Center, a retail destina- Much of this growth is involves prod- tion located in Kansas Alberta Development Partners is redeveloping Metcalf uct that is replacing outdated and un- City’s Northland and South, a traditional mall property in Overland Park, Kansas, derperforming malls. CBL & Associate’s anchored by Sears, into The Streets at Metcalf, a 1.3 million-square-foot 1.5 million-square-foot Oak Park Mall in has received approval mixed-use community. Overland Park, Kansas, and Simon’s 1.2 from the city and will new investment. RED Development’s million-square-foot Independence Cen- commence a ground-up reconstruction Legends project at the Village West con- ter in Independence, Missouri, remain sometime this year. Similarly, the 1960s- tinues to add premier tenants to an area strong. However, most of the city’s oth- era Blue Ridge Mall on the Missouri that had almost no retail services a few er regional malls are in the process of side of the city has been completely years ago, but now draws from a 250- either complete tear-downs or major demolished and replaced by a Wal-Mart mile radius. reconfigurations. Supercenter — opening this month — Traditional suburban development Alberta Development Partners has along with national junior anchors, res- continues unabated, with more than 6 joined with a local owner to complete- taurants and additional shop space. million square feet of major projects ly recast two traditional mall proper- One of the more ambitious mall make- in the final planning or construction ties. Metcalf South in Overland Park, overs involves the former Mission Mall stages, including Cormac’s 1 million- Kansas, anchored by Sears and Macy’s, in Mission, Kansas. Previously home square-foot Von Maur/JC Penney- will become the Streets at Metcalf, a 1.3 to two Dillard’s stores, this center was anchored regional center in Overland million-square-foot mixed-use project purchased and demolished by the Cam- Park, Kansas; RED Development’s featuring retail, office and residential eron Group, which is building a mixed- Summit Fair lifestyle center and components. Metro North in Kansas use project on the site that will feature Developers Diversified Realty’s (DDR) City’s Northland, which is anchored specialty and big box retail, apartments, City Walk power center, both in Lee’s by Dillard’s, Macy’s and JC Penney, condominiums and office space in this Summit, Missouri; the second phase of will become the Streets at Barrytowne. centrally located inner ring suburb. Steiner & Associate’s Zona Rosa lifestyle New retail construc- center, Cousins Properties’ Target and tion is prevalent in near- Home Depot-anchored Tiffany Springs ly every pocket of the MarketCenter and the Lowe’s Home city, including several Improvement Warehouse-anchored areas that until recently Liberty Triangle project, all in Kansas were considered retail City’s Northland; Block and Co. and laggards. The Cordish RED Development’s Target and Lowe’s- Company will open the anchored center in Blue Springs, first phases of its massive Missouri; First National Development’s Downtown Kansas City Plaza at the Speedway power center Power and Light District in Kansas City; and DDR’s Merriam in 2007, bringing new Village in Merriam, Kansas. retail, restaurant and en- tertainment venues to an The Streets at Barrytowne, another redevelopment of a — Jeffrey Berg is a vice president with area that was desolate traditional mall from Alberta Development Partners, will Kansas City, Missouri-based only a few years ago, but feature 2.3 million square feet of retail, office and Lane4 Property Group. now boasts an influx of residential space in Kansas City’s Northland more than $2 billion in when it is complete.