Community Builders of Kansas City brings Health Forward Foundation, a Kansas City-based nonprofit that seeks to build inclusive, powerful and healthy communities characterized by racial equity and economically just systems, will own and occupy 20,000 square feet on the third floor of the 64,000-square-foot Class A commercial building located at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Chestnut Ave.
“It was important to Health Forward, as we determined a permanent location for the foundation, that we invest in the economic vibrancy that exists among our prioritized communities of focus,” Health Forward CEO Qiana Thomason said. “For many years, there has been disinvestment in 64130 and while the area is classified as blighted, the blight does not reflect the power, the cultural wealth, the legacy, the resiliency and the resourcefulness of the people who live there and in the surrounding ZIP codes. We want to help restore, revitalize and rejuvenate this community by being an economic anchor and investor with Community Builders.”
The building Health Forward is occupying is the first of the multi-phase Offices at Overlook District that will transform underused and blighted property into 180,000 square feet of Class A office space, 19,000 square feet of mixed-use space and 155 multi-family units. Other features will include a health and wellness walking trail and outdoor event plazas, making the development another first of its kind in the area.
Demolition and site clearing on the project began last spring and site infrastructure, including the walking trail, will be complete this quarter. Construction on the $30 million office building is expected to begin by the end of this year with completion in 2025. The project team includes Turner Construction as general contractor, Hufft and Helix Architecture + Design as architects, Taliaferro & Browne Inc. as civil engineer and Land3 Studio LLC as landscape architect.