Over 30 years, since its 1991 founding, Community Builders of Kansas City completed $250 million in development in neighborhoods throughout the East Side. In the last two and a half years, since 2019, CBKC has participated in more than $40 million in new investment on its Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard headquarters campus alone.
Blue Parkway Sun Fresh: $1 million
Swope Health’s PACE KC: $15 million
The Cleveland: $13 million
The Rochester: $13 million
Specialty health services: $1 million
“Private money has not come running to the East Side and when your capital stack depends on incentives and public money, development can take a long time,” said Emmet Pierson, Jr., CBKC’s president and CEO. “In response, CBKC has leveraged our team’s knowledge and experience on how to move things forward to help accelerate our projects.”
The CBKC team has grown from four to 11 in the last two-plus years and includes long-time industry leaders in finance, development, government relations, legal, asset management, architecture, community engagement and store management.
Pierson said CBKC’s new way of doing business is a mix of thoughtfully cultivated strategies – building trust with elected officials and others, being open to partnerships, taking its models that have succeeded into new footprints as well as investing the organization’s own equity in a deal without taking a development fee.
“Some projects are just so important to us, like The Rochester, that we invested the resources of our nonprofit organization to make sure it’s done now, and right,” Pierson added. “The Rochester brings a residential option to this corridor that does not presently exist.” Named after R. (Rochester) Charles (Chuck) Gatson, the visionary founder of CBKC, it is the first market-rate, multi-family development east of Prospect in generations. The 64 residential units across four stories will feature in-demand finishes and amenities for the one-bedroom/one bath, one-bedroom plus den/one bath and two-bedroom/two-bathroom units.
While CBKC owns 700 units of affordable housing, the minority-led organization determined the biggest need of its community was access to quality goods and services. The organization owns and manages more than 300,000 square feet of office/retail and has another 60,000 square feet in development.
“Our walkable headquarters campus is becoming a destination for CBKC’s community to accomplish many of their routine needs – banking, health care, food – and to take care of a lot of other services,” said Shannon Hesterberg, CBKC’s chief operations and real estate officer. “There is more coming including amenities such as campus WiFi and others we are now looking into like charging stations and bike/scooter rental services.”
The organization’s 69,000-sq.ft. headquarters building at 4101 Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard has consistently maintained 100 percent occupancy for the last several years, nearly 15 points above Kansas City, Missouri’s commercial real estate average. The building has a curated roster of like-minded organizations dedicated to serving the urban core.
About the projects underway on the campus:
Blue Parkway Sun Fresh
- This full-service grocery store now owned and operated by minority-led CBKC, came into the organization’s portfolio as part of the nonprofit’s commitment to changing the urban landscape not just physically but to impact quality of health as well.
- Acquired a year ago, CBKC has introduced quality product and pricing competitive with suburban store offerings, launched online shopping, in-store banking services, made physical improvements and has a vision for amenities such as a coffee shop/bar and community kitchen.
- Jobs can grow into career of several chosen paths such as IT, management, product representation and more.
- Revenues have grown 25 percent in the years since CBKC acquired the store.
PACE KC
- CBKC sold Swope Health the land for its healthcare program that provides a continuum of care and services to individuals aged 55 and older.
- The planned two-story, 32,000-sq.ft. PACE, or Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, facility will be located adjacent to Swope Health Central at 4141 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
- It is anticipated it will break ground in late 2021 or early 2022 and include 90, high-quality jobs.
The Cleveland
- This $12.6 million rehabilitation project will transition the 70 duplexes and 10 townhomes from fully affordable to mixed income and will complete by yearend 2022.
- The advantage of the mixed income status is that if residents’ income grows they can stay in the community. In fully affordable properties, a resident has to move if he or she makes too much money.
- These family properties all feature three-bedroom, one- and one-half bath units from 1,039 to 1,276 square feet with an attached garage.
- In addition to the extensive exterior and interior renovations and upgrades, a new 3,400-sq.-ft. $526,000 community building will go up to house property management staff, a maintenance shop as well as a space for classes, a computer room, exercise and flex area.
The Rochester
- The 81,400-sq.-ft, $12.6 million project broke ground in April 2021 and is expected to complete in 2022.
- The 64 residential units across four stories will have competitive rates for the one-bedroom, one bath; one-bedroom plus den, one bath; two-bedroom, two-bath units as well as a penthouse two-bedroom executive suite.
- Amenities include stainless steel appliances, solid-surface countertops, in-unit washer and dryer, an indoor/outdoor rooftop deck, fitness center, package pickup room, community meeting space as well as landscaped front and back yard spaces for grilling and gathering around the fire pit.
Specialty health services provider
- CBKC attracted a specialty health services provider who is completing a $1 million build-out of space which will announce its new location and services when it takes occupancy, which is expected sometime in the fourth quarter of 2021.