Optimism, hope reign at Kansas City Commercial Real Estate Summit

More than 100 leading real estate companies gathered at The Gallery in the Power & Light District of Kansas City for REjournals’ fifth annual Kansas City Commercial Real Estate Summit on August 25th. And the focus of the event? Optimism.

Yes, Kansas City and the surrounding Missouri communities saw their share of challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and, most recently, during the surge in cases caused by the Delta variant. But the CRE experts speaking at the summit said that despite these challenges, deals are still being made.

Some markets – especially multi-family and industrial ones – are still booming. In fact, the industry in the Kansas City area is hot as the surge in online shopping inspires more and more businesses to open new distribution centers in the area.

What about next year? CRE professionals who occupied the panels at the summit predicted 2022 will be an even stronger year for the Kansas City market as the pandemic hopefully subsides.

The speakers on the Apartment Buildings and Adaptive Reuse: Opportunities and Challenges panel had a lot of good news for the participants. Unsurprisingly, the multi-family market in Kansas City has remained a strong market despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Speakers at the panel were Jason Carter-Solomon, Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking at Landmark National Bank; Audrey Navarro, Managing Partner at Clemons Real Estate; Chip Walsh, founder and director at Mercier Street; Jeff Stingley, executive vice president at CBRE; and Parker Webb, chief executive officer at FTW Investments.

Different sectors were hit in different ways during the pandemic. This was evident from the Kansas City Market Update: Office, Industrial, Retail, Capital Markets, Investment Panel. While the industrial market has now skyrocketed, sectors such as office and retail are facing major challenges in the wake of the pandemic. Speakers at the panel were Sara Greenwood, Principal at The Greenwood Consulting Group; Alfredo Gutierrez, founder and president of SparrowHawk; Sheryl Vickers, Chief Executive Officer at Select Sites, LLC; Josh Goldsmith, senior director and head of the Kansas City office division at Cushman & Wakefield; and Nathan Anderson, partner at NAI Heartland.

City centers across the country are grappling with COVID-19 as many companies continue to push for a return to the office as the year progresses. But here, too, commercial deals are still taking place in the centers of the cities, which the speakers of the Downtown and Suburban Development – Game-Changing Projects panel mentioned. At the same time, commercial activity remains strong in the suburbs. This panel was attended by Rita D’Agostino, Director of Real Estate Development at Opus Development Company; Aaron Mesmer, Senior Vice President, Development and Acquisitions, Block Real Estate Services; Mike Berenbom, Managing Partner of the LANE4 Property Group; Chad Stafford, President of Occidental Management, Inc .; and Matthew Severns, Industrial Brokerage and Principal at Kessinger Hunter.