2017 Sector Update

PCEDC StaffNews

Industrial Market

  •  Vacancy for the first quarter of 2017 for Platte County’s industrial sector was 10.8%, down from 11.6% in the fourth quarter of 2016. Net absorption for the quarter was 105,888, according to the CBRE Kansas City Industrial Report.
  • David Hinchman, an Industrial Broker for CBRE, said “The Kansas City industrial market has posted 22 consecutive quarters of positive net absorption. Platte County, although the smallest county submarket in the metro, has seen strong growth of new state of the art product since the Great Recession. It stands now, with the highest percentage in the KC Metro of New State of Art distribution buildings.”
  • The biggest industrial news in fourth quarter 2016 in Platte County was the announcement that CVS Pharmacy will build a new 762,000 sq. ft. distribution center in the Skyport Industrial Park. The facility has broken ground and will create over 360 new jobs when operations commence in 2018.
  • First quarter 2017 transactions in Platte County include Progress Rail, a subsidiary of Caterpillar that supplies railroad and transit system products, who is leasing 246,360 SF of space in Riverside Horizons V. Construction on a 412,000 SF speculative building in Riverside Horizons is underway.
  • Recent expansions in Platte County’s industrial sector include MULTIVAC, who completed a 32,000 SF expansion in 2016. KC Sausage added 18,000 SF in 2016 and is planning another 15,000 SF expansion to create an additional production line.

Office Market

  • 2016 was a solid year for Platte County’s office market. The vacancy rate fell to 22.1%, down from 32% in 2013 and lower than the 5-year average of 27.3%, according to stats from Newmark Grubb Zimmer.
  • Platte County’s office market vacancy for Q2 2017 is 24.7%, according to the Costar Kansas City Office Market Report.
  • “Activity has been picking up along the I-29 corridor, said Brent Roberts, an office broker for Block Real Estate Services. “Tours have been active with at least five companies seeking 5,000 to 20,000 RSF in the past month and a handful of RFPs in the works.”
  • 2016 office successes in 2016 included Gridliance and USA800.
  • Two of Platte County’s oldest office buildings are getting new life. Ambassador I will undergo a $22 million redevelopment into a 104-room Hilton Garden Inn and, mostly likely, a 98-room Tru by Hilton. Meanwhile, Ambassador II was sold to the International Academy of Science who is converting the building into a training center for visiting school administrators and teachers.

Retail Market

  • For the second quarter in a row, Platte County’s retail vacancy was below 4%. Retail vacancy for first quarter 2017 was 3.7%, down from 4.7% during the year prior, according to stats from Newmark Grubb Zimmer. The vacancy rate for the first quarter was the third lowest in the Kansas City Metro Area.
  • New stores are coming in leaps and bounds into Platte County and include:
    •   The new Menards on Green Hills Road opened on January 31, 2017. The new 160,000-square-foot store also features 10 pad sites around the store for other tenants.
    •   In the Tiffany Springs MarketCentre, a new ALDI opened in December at 8780 N. Ambassador Drive. The new 18,850 square feet store features the chain’s newest layout which includes larger selling spaces, higher ceilings and wider aisles. In addition, sports store Endurance House opened in January 2017 at 8940 NW Skyview Ave in Kansas City.
    •   Dunkin Donuts opened its first store in Platte County, at 6328 N. Chatham Ave just off 64th Street in the Tremont Square strip center.
    •  Coming soon: the new Edgewood Farms development located near I-29 and Barry Road continues to progress. On May 9, Main Event Entertainment opened a nearly 50,000 square feet center which includes bowling, laser tag and gravity ropes course suspended over a games gallery with more than 100 interactive and virtual games. The new Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers opened in March 2017, and construction on Texas Roadhouse is imminent. Edgewood Farms will also include several free-standing restaurants, apartments and a strip center of retail tenants.
    •   Draftcade opened up in Zona Rosa in April. The new entertainment business, located at 7260 NW 87th St, Kansas City and features 80 arcade games and 60 beer options.
    •   The Peanut will make its Platte County debut in mid-May at 6409 N. Cosby Ave., just west of I-29 in the Picture Hills Shopping Center.

Residential Market

  • According to the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City, single and multi-family permits for Platte County in 2016 totaled 962, an increase of 48% over 2015.
  • The greatest increase in permits for the year was multi-family units for 2016, which totaled 472.
  • Single-family residential building permits in Platte County were down slightly in 2016 compared with 2015. Total number of permits in 2016 was 490, compared with 496 in 2015. The 2016 figure, however, was up 30% from 2014 year-end figures.
  • Current multifamily developments in Platte County include the new Altitude 970 (291 units) opening in summer 2017 and phase II of the Denton Apartment project in the Burlington Creek area.