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Get Vaccinated and Save Lives
As you have read in this issue, a healthy community is a top priority for Community Builders of Kansas City. As such, we strongly urge all our residents to get the COVID-19 vaccination. Vaccination will help keep ourselves, our families and our friends from grave illness, hospitalization and death. It will help our businesses, shops and restaurants stay open and our economy get back on track.
We ask that you help us engage those in our community who are hesitant to get the vaccine. We know there is plenty of misinformation going around, especially on social channels. Below we address some of the mistruths.
- Does the vaccine alter your DNA?
NO. - Can you get the virus from the vaccine?
NO – the vaccines do not contain any live virus. - Does the vaccine contain a microchip?
NO. - Are vaccine side effects as bad as having COVID-19?
NO – For most the worst case is you feel unwell for a day. The virus, on the other hand, can make you seriously ill, cause hospitalization and/or long-term serious health effects, even death. - What about allergic reactions?
Reactions are extremely rare – one in 500,000 to 1 million. - I’m protected because I’m young.
NO – the Delta variant is affecting people as young as infants. - Does the vaccine cause fertility issues?
NO. - I’m safe since I’ve already had the virus.
NO – immunity wears off over time. - Can I still get the virus if I’m vaccinated?
Breakthrough cases can happen, but your symptoms will be significantly fewer and minor. Again, greater than 90 percent of those experiencing severe cases, including hospitalizations, are among the unvaccinated. The vaccine may not prevent a break-through case, but it will help protect you from getting seriously sick or dying.
If you have questions about the vaccinations, talk to your healthcare provider. Do not rely on social media for health advice. Misinformation is everywhere, so be selective.
Space To Become Available at 5008 Prospect for Single or Multi Tenants
The 5008 Prospect Building, another of Community Builders of Kansas City’s properties in the urban community, will have space available in the fourth quarter of 2021. The two-story, 14,000-square-foot, LEED-certified building has high quality finishes and is ideally located near public transportation and within minutes of highways, shopping, education and commercial centers.
“We are seeking a tenant or tenants that will be a good fit with the community,” said Shannon Hesterberg, chief operations and real estate officer for Community Builders of Kansas City. “CBKC is committed to preserving this asset for the community. 5008 Prospect is particularly well suited for organizations that offer social services, jobs, education or training.”
CBKC has many non-profit, service-driven, professional and medical tenants in its commercial property portfolio such as Legal Aid of Western Missouri, Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City, Mazuma Credit Union, Holiday Law Firm and Heartland Black Chamber of Commerce. CBKC understands and knows how to work with the often unique aspects of such organizations’ mission, lease needs and funding.
The May merger of Vivent Health and Thrive Health Connection opened up space for a new tenant or tenants at 5008 Prospect. The merged entity, which established the first HIV Medical Home in Kansas City, needed more square footage. Thrive, formerly Good Samaritan Project, served those affected by HIV/AIDS and became a tenant of 5008 Prospect in mid-2018.
There is ample controlled parking as well as on-street parking at 5008 Prospect whose two levels each have about 7,000 square feet. The property currently features more than a dozen private offices, community/training space, conference room, residential-grade kitchen, showers and locker rooms, cubicles and other furnishings. An improvement allowance is negotiable. Google Fiber, Spectrum Cable Business, AT&T, Consolidated Communications and Packet Layer serve the building.
It is LEED Gold- and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star®-certified and is equipped with solar panels for more efficient utility usage as well as electric car charging stations on both surface parking levels. Barrels collect rainwater used both for the adjacent garden with raised beds and fruit trees managed by Kansas City Community Gardens and by MO Hives’ apiary located just across the street, one of the urban environments where its honeybees thrive.
The award-winning 5008 Prospect building was built in 1969 and first renovated in 2013. In 2018, the building was the first recipient of the Central City Economic Development (CCED) one-eighth-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2017 to spark redevelopment along the Prospect corridor. The $628,000 renovation expanded the Blue Hills Incubator serving predominantly local MBE/WBE businesses and attracted Good Samaritan Project, which took the rest of the leasable space. Further renovations completed in 2019 to accommodate additional office space.
Sun Fresh Grocery Celebrates Reopening
Over the Memorial Day weekend Community Builders of Kansas City celebrated the grand reopening of Blue Parkway Sun Fresh that it began operating a year ago. Members of the community turned out to commemorate the occasion and take in music from KMJK 107.3’s Darron Story, store promotions and demos, food, prizes and even vaccinations.
The two-day celebration marked the official kickoff of new and upgraded services and the upcoming remodel of the store. Improvements either currently underway or planned include physical upgrades, updated pricing, additional associate training and new products based on community feedback. In addition, the event served as the launch of Sun Fresh’s HomeGrown program that will highlight various local vendors offering locally made products such as homemade salsa, cobbler, coffee and candied apples.
Last May, CBKC announced that it would become the owner / operator of the Blue Parkway Sun Fresh, one of the few full-service supermarkets east of Prospect Avenue, following the retirement of the current operator. Taking on the owner/operator role of the Blue Parkway Sun Fresh is in line with CBKC’s vision to strengthen families and transform communities and broadens its urban Eat Well/Live Well platform. Doing so also assures that the community’s money stays in the community, recirculating the investment among the urban residents and workers it is meant to benefit.
CBKC is committed to making Sun Fresh a place where the community can count on a wide variety of healthy, competitively priced products, convenient services and knowledgeable, friendly staff.
DelReese Mays and Patty Kurth Bring a Combined 45 Years of Experience and a Passion to Serve Others to CBKC
DelReese Mays is passionate about building a fun, inclusive and collaborative workplace culture, so it comes as no surprise that she is Community Builders of Kansas City’s new human resources specialist. Patty Kurth was looking for a purpose-driven organization where she could make a difference. She brings more than 25 years of experience to her role as CBKC’s new senior accountant.
“I am excited to welcome DelReese and Patty to our team and believe their desire to help others and be a part of something bigger than themselves is what will make them true assets to CBKC,” said Emmet Pierson Jr., CBKC president and CEO. “Passion and drive, along with skills and expertise, are what drive this organization and will continue to drive it to the next level.”
Mays’ experience has spanned from Sprint-Nextel to State Street Bank to KUMC Research Institute, but her mission has always been to provide a welcoming and enjoyable office environment. She brings an infectious positive attitude and genuine desire to help others to every job. Along with employee relations, Mays has extensive knowledge of a variety of technologies and policies that will streamline human resources processes as well as 20 years of expertise in all aspects of the employee experience.
“Working in a small, collaborative environment where I can really make a difference to the employees is what appealed to me about the organization and position,” said Mays. “I chose CBKC because of its work improving communities and developing quality housing in the urban core.”
Kurth began her career as an office manager/accounts payable clerk and over the years earned her MBA and advanced to CFO and board member of Heartland National Life, a multi-state insurance company. She has worked for both small companies and large corporations and was looking for a place where she could use her talents to improve other people’s lives. When she learned about CBKC, she instantly fell in love with the organization and its purpose and jumped at the chance to join the team.
“I believe in CBKC’s mission and jumped at the opportunity to be a part of a group that improves lives in the communities it serves,” she said. “That is why I chose this company to work for. It is dedicated to not only its employees, but the entire community, and gives back in many ways to touch other people’s lives and develop opportunities.”
Although Mays and Kurth both operate behind the scenes, you can be sure they are working diligently to improve the organization, making a difference and enjoying it every step of the way.
CBKC Helps Secure Funding for Pedestrian Crossing Study
Community Builders of Kansas City led the pursuit which has secured funding for the feasibility study required by the city on the installation of pedestrian crossings along the newly renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard
“Out of a 2017 Swope Parkway/Blue Parkway Feasibility Study, residents identified safe pedestrian crossings as a top infrastructure priority along this corridor,” said Elizabeth Schultz, CBKC’s director of strategic initiatives and community development. “There are zero mid-block pedestrian crossings and just two intersections with traffic signals in the two-mile stretch along this corridor, which is clearly insufficient to provide safe places for residents to cross this busy thoroughfare. Daily I observe people stranded in medians or dangerously attempting to cross the street despite on-coming traffic.”
In recent years, CBKC has submitted PIAC project applications directly and worked alongside multiple neighborhood groups to help them optimize their submissions to PIAC. Out of more than 20 projects submitted over the 2019-2020 period, just six projects were funded – three of which were for parkway tree plantings restoration – an unmet Parks and Recreation Dept. Parkways and Boulevards standard requirement.
“In 2019, there was more than $500 million in requests for PIAC funding and in 2020 the requests doubled to more than $1.3 billion,” said Elizabeth Schultz. “There is just too much demand for too little money.”
In the 2019 funding year, Araceli Magana, PIAC administrator, said as much in a letter, “PIAC reviewed each one of the 881 requests received from across the city. The dollar value of all requests totaled $538,092,297 which made the task of putting the projects in priority order difficult.”
PIAC’s duty at its establishment in 1983 was to direct one percent of the city’s sales tax revenue to public improvement projects requested by residents. The sales tax generates about $70 million a year which was to be set aside for projects proposed by citizens or neighborhood organizations addressing needs that can range from traffic signal to storm water management improvements
Ballot language for the 2018 renewal of the 20-year tax included allowing the city’s share for the cost for replacement of the Buck O’Neil Bridge to come from PIAC funds. The city’s public works and parks and recreation department also have submitted applications for PIAC funds to pay for its initiatives. Since its inception, more city departments are using PIAC as a funding tool and are advising residents to submit neighborhood maintenance requests through this portal rather than doing repairs and replacements as part of the city’s duty to maintain basic public infrastructure.
“PIAC’s original intent was to support funding of public improvements identified and initiated by neighborhoods,” said Schultz. “It has morphed into another tool for the city to fund the gap in its own projects, often those that have little to do with the intended use of PIAC funds. That makes it incredibly challenging for any of these neighborhood-initiated and desired projects to see the light of day.”
The PIAC funding was not enough to pay for the pedestrian crossing study so CBKC teamed up with the city’s public works department to successfully pursue a MARC Planning Sustainable Places grant. Now, Schultz said, the design team is in place working with various city departments, MARC and community stakeholders to do the work to recommend the safest and most economical option – one that has the highest likelihood of having city, state and federal funding allocated for the installation.
“CBKC hopes that all of this effort to date will receive continued support,” said Emmet Pierson, CBKC president and CEO. “That is essential to meet our community’s high expectations in transforming the former Swope and Blue Parkways to a standard that appropriately memorializes the boulevard for Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Barely a Year After Its Announcement, The Rochester Breaks Ground
It is told that R. (Rochester) Charles (Chuck) Gatson, wasn’t big on groundbreakings. Grand openings, now that is another matter but ground breakings, not so much.
So it was that on Friday, April 16, 2021, a few dozen people came together on the Community Builders of Kansas City (CBKC) headquarters campus to quietly, joyfully, commemorate the construction start of Gatson’s namesake development, The Rochester on Blue Parkway – the first market-rate, multi-family development east of Prospect in generations.
“I look around and see all the people who have worked so hard to make this a reality,” said Emmet Pierson, Jr., president and CEO of CBKC. “It means a great deal to me and to so many of us. It’s a great day.”
Alice Wadsworth, Chuck’s widow, came as a special guest and participated in the ceremonial event alongside Pierson, other CBKC staff, board members and the contractor – Straub Construction and consulting team – Hufft Projects, architect and Taliaferro & Brown, civil engineer. With commemorative shovels they turned the dirt signaling the official construction start of the project.
The 81,400-square-foot, $12.6 million project will have 64 residential units across four stories. It is expected to complete in 2022 with tenants moving in sometime mid-year. Interested prospects can get on the information mailing list at therochesterkc.com.
The development was named after Gatson, the visionary who became the heart, soul and leader of Community Builders of Kansas City. He grew up east of Troost and invested his career in service to the education, training and capacity building of individuals and communities in need. He died in 2014.
The Rochester will feature in-demand finishes and amenities including stainless steel appliances, solid-surface countertops, in-unit washer and dryer, an indoor/outdoor rooftop deck, fitness center, package pick-up room, community meeting space as well as landscaped front and back yard spaces furnished for grilling and gathering around the fire pit. Rates will be competitive for the one-bedroom/one bath, one-bedroom plus den/one bath and two-bedroom/two-bathroom units. There also will be a penthouse two-bedroom executive suite.
This groundbreaking, without pomp or circumstance, was an acknowledgement of reaching this milestone knowing there is much work ahead not just with this project but with the greater CBKC mission – changing this landscape by igniting and fueling equity, access, opportunity and advocacy.