Urban Land Institute (ULI) Kansas City and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce teamed up to present The Great Reset — 2024 Emerging Trends in Real Estate in February. The special event brought together industry leaders and experts to discuss national, regional and local trends in real estate. Already ULI’s most popular event, Katherine Carttar, executive director of ULI Kansas City, wanted to make this year’s event even bigger.
One of the new additions to the agenda was a fireside chat titled “Capital Markets: How to Structure a Deal.” It was a more casual discussion focused on local perspectives, and Carttar wanted a variety of real estate asset types and geographical areas included which is why she approached Emmet Pierson, Jr., president and CEO of CBKC.
“Emmet was the perfect person for this panel and one of the first people I thought of because of the range of his experience with different types of assets,” said Carttar. “CBKC is unique in that its portfolio includes residential, commercial and grocery stores. Plus it’s all on the East Side and we wanted to represent all the geographic areas, not just downtown and The Plaza,” Carttar said.
Carttar said Pierson was a crowd favorite and that she received feedback from attendees saying he elevated the conversation.
“Emmet has a down-to-earth, straightforward approach and it appealed to the audience,” said Carttar. “He didn’t hold back when explaining the challenges of East Side development. He told the bankers in room, ‘we need your help’ and it took the conversation to a deeper, more authentic level.”
This year’s event was titled “The Great Reset” and focused on the new realities in the post-pandemic era. The landscape of commercial real estate continues to evolve and with the new normal, the industry faces significant shifts, not only in office spaces but across the entire real estate spectrum. The event discussed how to navigate the changes, redefine strategies and mitigate potential losses in this new era of commercial real estate.
“Before Covid development in Kansas City was on fire,” she said. “Then after Covid everything was up in air and unprecedented. Now, in 2024, the industry has stabilized but it’s a completely different environment in which construction costs and interest rates are high and present long-term challenges.”
Now in its sixth year, Carttar reported that with 160 attendees this year’s event was the largest to date.