The first phase of Community Builders of Kansas City’s (CBKC) pioneering Offices at Overlook District broke ground in November. Located at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Chestnut Ave., the initial construction project is a 60,000-square-foot office building with three stories and private tenant roof terraces. The building’s aesthetic will be sleek and modern while also incorporating cultural artifacts like the stained glass from Zion Grove Baptist Church, which closed in 2018 after decades on the site.
Health Forward Foundation (HFF), a billion-dollar Kansas City-based foundation working to improve health outcomes for the region’s vulnerable communities, announced it would become anchor/owner of its portion of the office building. Health Forward CEO Qiana Thomason said they chose the location because of its proximity to its prioritized populations and to restore, revitalize and rejuvenate the surrounding area.
“Health Forward’s agreement to partner with us on Offices at Overlook was essential to bringing this project to fruition,” said Emmet Pierson, Jr., CBKC president and CEO. “The organization’s relocation sets the stage for the recruitment of like-minded organizations that offer financial, legal, technical and health-related services to the residents in the surrounding area.”
Once all phases of the project are completed, the Overlook District will transform what was once 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, marking another first-of-its-kind development for CBKC.
CBKC announced the project in April of 2020. Other features of the development include a three-quarter-mile walking trail open to the public and outdoor event plazas that residents can use for business and personal gatherings.
“Right now there is no other project in this community that includes Class A office space with contemporary upscale housing and sought-after amenities,” said Pierson. The project will attract new businesses services to the area which will enhance quality of life and help the neighborhood flourish,” Pierson said.
The office building is projected to be completed by end of 2025. The project team includes CB Constructs as owner’s representative, 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.