Within two years of Ingram’s founding, one of Greater Kansas City’s most important developments sprung up from the
cornfields of Johnson County. Along a gravel lane then called 110th Street, College Boulevard and Corporate Woods took
shape in 1975. The increased ability to live and work in Johnson County was significant and helped create what would become the region’s most dynamic economic engine.

Although College Boulevard was named for then-new Johnson County Community College, the corridor’s most significant development began farther east. Starting in the 1960s, developers had began assembling property in the area and, in 1975, planners Sasaki, Walker & Associates conceived a unique, “wooded suburban” setting for an office park. The result was Corporate Woods, an upscale office center that quickly became the anchor for much of southern Johnson County’s growth—growth that would eclipse that of the metro’s urban core for several decades. Today, the development
includes more than two dozen office buildings totaling more than 2 million square feet, with countless more offices and commercial development adjacent and nearby.

The biggest impact of this commercial development was probably in surrounding areas of Johnson County. With the establishment of this new and growing employment base on College Boulevard, the region gained a momentum that has continued to this day. Later developments from the Sprint Campus to recent retail developments still farther south were made possible by the success of College Boulevard and Corporate Woods.

The value of the development was underscored recently through the 2006 sale of Corporate Woods. The deal involved
2.2 million square feet of office space purchased by Stoltz Real Estate Partners and Urdang Capital Management Inc., both of suburban Philadelphia. The sale price—$290 million—represented the largest real estate deal ever in the metropolitan area.

The 1977 opening of Oak Park Mall—just north of College Boulevard—was another major catalyst for growth in central and southern Johnson County. Located just a few miles from the firmly entrenched Metcalf South Mall, it was anchored by an unheardof four department stores—Macy’s, JCPenney, Montgomery Ward and Stix Baer and Fuller—and a number of smaller shops for a total of 1.2 million square feet. It was also taking on the popular Indian Springs Mall in Kansas City, Kan. Now with 1.6 million square feet, the sheer size and continued success of the center makes it stand out among the region’s retail developments, especially in light of the decline—and demise—of nearly every other enclosed mall in the region. The center’s continued value was illustrated in 2005 when owners Copaken White & Britt sold Oak Park and two other centers for $516.9 million to CBL & Associates Properties Inc. of Chattanooga, Tenn.

The Independence School District has been rewarded for its excellence in education in recent years, as indicated by
the district receiving the “Distinction in Performance” accreditation from the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education for 2006, 2007 and 2008. The school district’s focus is to provide an excellent learning opportunity for each student. It is committed to helping students achieve their dreams, to ensuring students’ futures, and to working with parents, business partners and city officials to make Independence a viable and cohesive community.

Telecommunications

The biggest deal of all for Johnson County—and one of the biggest in the entire metropolitan area the past three decades— came in June 1997 with groundbreaking for the Sprint world headquarters, which would consolidate most of the 20,000 local employees who were spread out throughout the metro area. In many ways the ultimate culmination of the College Boulevard and Corporate Woods trend, the Sprint campus had a price tag of $429 million and solidified Sprint as the area’s biggest employer. As with Corporate Woods 20 years earlier, some of the most dramatic impact of the Sprint campus was on nearby retail, residential and other commercial development that were drawn by this massive project.

But Sprint’s presence hasn’t been without problems. The year 2004 saw completion of Sprint’s $35 billion merger with
Nextel, a move that threatened to dilute the company’s local presence by moving part of the headquarters function to Reston, Va. With a combined value of approximately $70 billion and some 40 million subscribers, the two companies hoped the partnership would add horsepower in an increasingly competitive market. Instead, it has continually lost market share, and has had to shed thousands of people from its payroll.

In 2006, Sprint Nextel spun off its local landline business into a new company, Embarq, as part of a strategy to allow the larger corporation better focus on its wireless and Internet market. At the time, it was the largest move following the Sprint-Nextel merger. In late 2008, Embarq was sold for $12 billion to a Louisiana company half its size, CenturyTel. The Kansas City region is likely to see reduction in the related corporate workforce. Embarq was expected to shift its headquarters to northern Louisiana and shed an undetermined number of its 17,000 employees, about 3,500 of which work in this region.

Locally, that news was balanced by word in February 2008 that Sprint Nextel would move its corporate headquarters back to Overland Park, reversing a decision in the 2005 merger. The headquarters consolidation decision is among the first major actions of Dan Hesse, who was named Sprint’s chief executive officer in December 2007. The Kansas City area is home to about 13,300 workers, still the largest single concentration of Sprint employees.

Metro Wide

While Johnson County’s growth was racing along in the 1970s and into the 1980s, the metro area’s northern suburbs were growing more slowly. Clay and Platte counties each year could point to a long list of potential advantages, but major development was slow to materialize. Big deals were almost nonexistent.

The most disappointing area may have been in Platte County surrounding Kansas City International Airport. Although KCI
had opened in 1972, little complementary development had occurred. One significant exception involved the 1975 opening
of AirWorld Center, a combination office, distribution and light industrial development along I-29.

Another big step occurred in Clay County during 1981. At the time, few noticed the sale of several parcels totaling more
than 5,300 acres by the Curry Investment Company to an investment wing of the Mormon Church. Located generally west of Liberty, the property included the future Shoal Creek Valley Development. Comprised of three residential developments and two commercial areas, the Shoal Creek Development today is among Greater Kansas City’s few continuing growth areas, even in the currently slow economy.

In Eastern Jackson County, Blue Springs and Lee’s Summit had enjoyed dramatic residential and commercial growth since the 1970s. But population in nearby Independence remained relatively stagnant. Commercial growth had especially been slow in Harry Truman’s old town.

A major break began in 1993 when Simon Properties purchased the under-performing Independence Center, a major
mall at the intersection of two major interstates that had failed to spur much ancillary development. With that deal, the mall
itself began to revive dramatically, with the impact spreading beyond the center. Another large commercial area was developed north of Independence Center and, to the south, the old Jesse James hideout once called “Crackerneck” became home to several new commercial areas including the Eastland Center, Hartman Heritage and Crackerneck Plaza. In less than five years, some $450 million in investment created one of the region’s most active retail areas, finally realizing the potential created by Independence Center several decades earlier.

One of the key steps involved an initiative by the city of Independence in the form building a new I-70 interchange, which opened the Little Blue Parkway and helped link Highway 40 via Crackerneck Parkway. West of I-470, a ublic/private agreement brought two projects—a new Independence Bass Pro Shops costing $70 million, and The Falls, a separate 465,000 square-foot retail center that is still in the planning stage. A nearby arena for minor league sports is moving slowly, although it has been approved in a complex arrangement with the city of Independence.

A similar development could be on tap for the future near I- 435 and 95th Street/Bannister Road with redevelopment of the former Bannister Mall. The Missouri Development Finance Board in November approved $30 million in tax credits considered crucial to the $1 billion plan to redevelop the shuttered mall as a multi-use center, including a professional soccer stadium for the Kansas City Wizards. Named Three Trails development, the proposal has outlined the construction of 1.1 million square feet of retail, 1.6 million square feet of offices, four hotels, the 18,500-seat soccer stadium and 12 tournament- quality soccer fields.

Suburbs on Steroids

Among the biggest stories of the 1990s was the statewide decision by Missouri voters to allow riverboat gambling. The
1993 voter approval opened the doors for a significant new tourism business and a large funding source for area municipalities. Greater Kansas City would eventually host the largest concentration of casinos in Missouri.

The initial industry pitch of quaint paddle wheelers on the Missouri River never materialized. Only one of the five initial
riverboats actually cruised on the Missouri River, the other four remained docked. A few weren’t really on the river, but sat in manmade moats alongside the river. Nonetheless, the new casino business brought dramatic results, notably a requirement for significant local tax payments by the casinos. Three of the casinos were in Kansas City, but one [Sam’s Town] didn’t survive, and the other [Flamingo-turned-Isle of Capri] is the smallest of the four survivors. The big winners were the smaller communities of Riverside and North Kansas City which enjoyed a proportionally dramatic inflow of revenue.

The most spectacular case was Argosy’s impact on the town of Riverside. With barely 3,000 in population and little local revenue, Riverside almost immediately found itself relatively flush with income. Unsure how long the cash inflow would last, the city largely invested in long-term infrastructure to effectively rebuild the community. Although new streets, parks and a community center were impressive, by far the most lasting impact is likely to come from the city’s help building a Corps of Engineers levee that had been discussed for more than 50 years. The result was nearly 2,000 acres of prime property suddenly available for development and within sight of downtown Kansas City and adjacent to an interstate highway.

North Kansas City, St. Joseph and even Kansas City saw similar impact, although the larger communities generally experienced a proportionally smaller result. North Kansas City used its funding to install a $10 million fiber optic network that brought some of the fastest connectivity in the country and increasing prospects for re-use of that city’s large inventory of older commercial buildings.

But in terms of suburban deals and agreements over the past 35 years, nothing may surpass what began in Wyandotte County in the 1990s. In 1997 voters merged the two governments of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., into the Unified Government. Shortly thereafter, the governing body of NASCAR selected Wyandotte County over Platte County, Mo., for the development of a new motor speedway to operate under the sanction of the International Speedway Corporation. With this national affiliation, Wyandotte landed a new, major league venue.

The $200 million construction that resulted at the intersection of I-435 and I-70 soon generated more than $300 million
annually. Savvy planning by civic and business leaders set the stage for retail and other development nearly equal to the
Speedway itself.

Adjacent development included Village West, which became home to Cabela's, the Nebraska Furniture Mart, a minor league ball team and stadium, several hotels and restaurants. Then came the addition of “lifestyle” center Legends at Village West, featuring upscale shopping, plenty of restaurants and entertainment options.

Within a few short years, KCK and western Wyandotte County became one of the hottest growth areas of the region.

Significantly, the story continues today. In late September of 2005, Wyandotte County’s Unified Government struck a deal with Schlitterbahn Waterworks of Texas setting aside up to $206 million in STAR bonds to help build a $412 million water park resort on 300 acres east of I-435 near Parallel Parkway. Though the construction of the water park has been delayed, plans to resume its development remains a priority.

Next up for the region is a large gambling, hotel and entertainment complex. Kansas Speedway and partner Cordish
Company [owner/operators of both Legends and downtown Kansas City’s Power and Light District] had won the exclusive state contract to operate a casino in Eastern Kansas. Due to the current economic climate, they have withdrawn plans for a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The state is reopening the bidding process. Chances are that a casino complex similar in size and scope to the once-planned Hard Rock will still emerge at or near the Speedway, but it will be built more slowly, in phases.

Downtown Reinvents Itself

For much of the past 35 years, Downtown Kansas City has been most notable for what hasn’t happened. In the mid 1970s, Kansas City considered itself a major league town [and was, in fact, briefly home to pro teams in all four major league sports], having recently built a modern new airport, convention center, sports arena and a one-of-a-kind sports complex with sideby- side baseball and football stadiums. With the exception of the convention center, none of these developments were downtown.

The 1974 opening of Kemper Arena may best epitomize how that early 1970s euphoria gave way to three decades of
downtown decline. Built in the West Bottoms as part of the American Royal complex, Kemper never spurned development
nearby, and visitors to Kemper generally bypassed downtown on their visits. The same could be said for Truman Sports
Complex in Eastern Jackson County. While both entities were successes in their own right, they not only failed to spur
economic development, but some saw them as a further drain on an already languishing downtown.

Of the city’s new facilities in the 1970s, Bartle Hall was the only one built in downtown Kansas City. For a while, Kansas City was listed in the top five convention facilities nationally, but that didn’t last as other cities built bigger convention halls and added more hotel rooms.

Several years passed after Bartle’s opening before downtown had a convention hotel to complement the convention center. That came in 1985 with opening of the Vista International. The Vista, now operated by Marriott, was a big deal in the fullest sense. No fewer than 32 banks, insurance companies and charities lent $35 million to pay for its construction. Labeled “Miracle on 12th Street,” the $54 million project not only gave downtown much-needed first-class hotel rooms, but it replaced a block of seedy bars and old strip joints. The deal had some detractors, but the effort may have set a record for collaboration by area civic leaders, bankers and municipal planners.

Most people recall the 1980s and 90s as a period of decline for downtown, but it wasn’t without its successes. Downtown was home to nearly $300 million in construction of three major landmarks: One Kansas City Place, the Commerce Bank Building and the AT&T Town Pavilion. The Town Pavilion deal alone involved 1 million square feet, plus the 2,000-car parking structure.

Still, downtown was suffering. It was, for the most part, an 8-to-5 operation. There was little to do after hours and little
reason for anyone to visit downtown unless they worked there. That started to change at the beginning of this century.
Downtown boosters renovated the old First National Bank building and made it the home to the library’s Central Branch.
Forward-looking entrepreneurs quietly started converting abandoned-but-historic downtown and River Market buildings into lofts and apartments. Artists were buying and moving into cheap buildings in the derelict Crossroads area.

City leaders seized on this quiet momentum and pushed through two massive projects—a new arena [the Sprint Center], and the adjacent retail and entertainment complex [the Power & Light District]. Bartle Hall expanded again, this time with a bold, new state-of-the-art ball-room. Several old abandoned hotels re-opened as boutique hotels. H&R Block moved its world headquarters downtown into the Power & Light district. The trickle of loft and condo conversions became a torrent. And after years of effort, the architecturally stunning new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is taking shape, helping to connect downtown to the now-burgeoning Crossroads Arts District.

Technically downtown but just south of The Loop, Crown Center continues to prosper, the Internal Revenue Service
located its massive regional service center across from Union Station, and the Federal Reserve Bank built its new $175
million headquarters near 29th and Main.

Back inside the Loop, J.E. Dunn Construction is constructing a new, $50 million headquarters to house more than 600 J.E. Dunn employees, a building meant to anchor to the proposed East Village Development, a 12-block blend of several hundred residential units, retail and commercial construction that intends to bring Quality Hill-style success to the east side of downtown.

When all is said and done, more than $6 billion has been invested in downtown’s renaissance—not including several projects under discussion, such as a new 1,000-room convention hotel.

Core Projects

Away from downtown, the rest of Kansas City has had its share of deals and developments the past 35 years. One of the biggest, truly changing the urban core’s landscape, traces its roots to a tragedy—the 1977 Plaza flood. While the Country Club Plaza has always been a source of civic pride, it wasn’t always considered an upscale retail center. Prior to the 1977 flood, ritzy stores like Halls, Tivol and Swansons shared real estate with Sears, Woolworth’s and a bowling alley. The cleanup and reconstruction after the flooding marked the beginning of the Plaza’s image as the Rodeo Drive of Kansas City.

And the source of that flood, the generally serene trickle of water known as Brush Creek, would eventually get a dramatic makeover. Beginning in 1991, in what became known as the Cleaver Plan, the city worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reconstruct the creek with flood-preventionmeasures, while upgrading it with cosmetic amenities such as fountains, concrete walkways and plenty of creek-side green space east of the Plaza. The Brush Creek Corridor today is the setting for one of the urban core’s best development areas, including the $48 million Kauffman Foundation and the $85 million Stowers Institute.

Science Investment Flowing

Stowers has played a major role in the relatively recent development of a region-wide biosciences movement. Several
deals, agreements and arrangements have been part of the more than 20-year development of that field, a trend that is gaining momentum on both sides of the state line.

Almost 10 years after the opening of the new Brush Creek Corridor, the Stowers Institute became a reality, representing a tangible investment in what had long seemed a fanciful dream. Other steps included formation of both Kansas and Missouri life science organizations, Missouri voter approval of a bill defining and protecting stem cell research, and an influx of private funds. Equally significant have been the expansion of research and related facilities at locations such as the University of Kansas at Lawrence and the KU Medical Center

The year 2008 saw several life science steps that should prove important. In February, the Stowers Institute signaled its continued investment here with the purchase of an office and industrial complex in south Kansas City. The 280,000 square foot facility will serve as headquarters for the institute's commercialization partner, BioMed Valley Discoveries Inc., and provide storage and support functions for the institute on nearly 15 acres at 8333 Hickman Mills Road. Renovation of the facilities began immediately and was scheduled for completion in early 2009. Construction costs are projected at more than $20 million.

In March 2008 an unrelated purchase illustrated the value of the bioscience industry. Leawood-based Enturia Inc., a manufacturer of antiseptic applicators, agreed to a $490 million purchase offer by Cardinal Health Inc. of Dublin, Ohio. Cardinal plans to maintain Enturia's roughly 700-employee work force and three primary locations, but the most notable news locally may be the measured value of an area life science firm.

Also in 2008 Johnson County voters gave their approval to the continued growth of the life sciences movement when
they approved a ballot issue establishing the Johnson County Education Research Triangle. The effort hopes to make Kansas City a top 20 bioscience research hub nationally. The tax increase will generate $15 million a year and won’t expire. The Johnson County Education Research Triangle Authority will distribute the money to fund cancer clinical trials, food safety studies and expended high-tech education opportunities.

Also in 2008, life sciences moved forward again with a move that also illustrated the industry’s footprint in communities
outside of Kansas City. Imulan BioTherapeutics announced that it would relocate its headquarters to St. Joseph, a city with a long and growing history in the animal sciences. Imulan, which develops immune-regulating compounds for veterinary medicine, will be the first tenant in the new Christopher “Kit” Bond Science and Technology Incubator located on the St. Joseph campus of Missouri Western University.

And farther west, Kansas State University has been named the new home of the federal government’s National Bio and Agro Defense Facility, pumping several hundred million into the economy, and cementing the region’s growing status as a center for the life and bio sciences.