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Posted on Fri, Jan. 16, 2004
HOK relocating to River Market
Architecture firm gets tax incentives
By KEVIN COLLISON
The Kansas City Star
Rendering courtesy of HOK Sport+Venue+Event
HOK Sport+Venue+Event will relocate its headquarters to the River Market with the help of financial incentives approved by the city. The $22 million office and parking complex is to open in spring 2005.
HOK Sport+Venue+Event, one of the nation's premier sports architecture firms, saw its plan for a new headquarters in the River Market approved Thursday by the Kansas City Council.
The $22 million project is planned for Fourth and Wyandotte streets and is being developed by Opus Northwest. If all goes according to schedule final details still require council approval a groundbreaking will occur in March and the four-story, 93,000-square-foot building will be completed by spring 2005.
HOK has agreed to lease 60,000 square feet for 10 years. It plans to relocate 220 employees there from its current offices at 323 W. Eighth St., said Richard A. Martin, senior principal and chief administrative officer.
It's a huge milestone, Martin said. If the council had not approved it, it would have been the end of the project...We would have had to look at other options.
HOK had been wooed by Kansas development officials to jump the border. That prompted the city to offer substantial tax incentives to assist with the project. The development is eligible for a 25-year, 100 percent Chapter 353 property tax abatement. Typically, such abatements are 100 percent for the first 10 years and 50 percent the remaining 15 years.
One of the major issues was financing a parking garage for the project. The city plans to build and own the 380- to 400-space garage, and lease spaces to HOK and to a development being pursued by Jim DeTar to renovate the old Adams Transfer Co. building at 228 W. Fourth St. into office and retail space.
HOK will commit to 200 spaces, and 100 spaces will be reserved for the DeTar development. The remaining spaces will be available for other prospective tenants in the HOK building. The general public will be allowed access to about 60 percent of the garage spaces after hours and on weekends, said Dave Harrison, director of real estate development for Opus.
The garage will be funded through $8 million in bonds issued by the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority. They will be repaid using the economic activity taxes generated by the HOK project, net parking revenues and a special assessment of $125,000 annually for 10 years.
One concern that remains from the city's point of view is how the project's long-term debt will be covered after the HOK lease expires in 10 years.
Councilman Chuck Eddy, the chairman of the council's Finance Committee, said HOK had given him no indication it plans to leave the building after 10 years, but added he will seek some guarantees that the city's financial position will be protected in the outlying years during the final negotiations.
I think it's a great opportunity for the River Market to bring a nationally known entity into the area that brings workers and adds parking that's sorely needed, Eddy said.
The HOK building was originally proposed a year ago by George Birt, a veteran River Market developer, and was to have been a larger, mixed-use project with two additional floors for condominium residences. Birt still has an interest in the project, but Opus Northwest's final version of the project dropped the residential component
Martin said the new building is being designed to be environmentally friendly, as well as a showcase for his firm. It will have an all-glass curtain wall that will bring in plenty of daylight for employees. It also is expected to feature a 30-foot by 30-foot LED display above the entrance that will showcase HOK projects around the world and live sporting events.
The company will have room to expand in the facility, and about 7,000 square feet will be available on the ground floor for retail use.
It's where we wanted to be, Martin said. We wanted to stay downtown, and we believe the River Market is a growing area and we wanted to be part of it.
To reach Kevin Collison,
development reporter, call
(816) 234-4289 or send e-mail to kcollison@kcstar.com.
