BNIM will keep its headquarters in Kansas City

Kansas City-based architecture firm BNIM said Tuesday it will move to Crown Center by the end of 2016, ending months of speculation about whether it would leave the city following an anti-tax uproar involving previous relocation plans.

The firm, which has 95 employees in its Kansas City office, will take about 20,000 square feet of office space for its headquarters.

The company said it is signing a five-year lease for two lower floors of the 2460 Pershing Road office building near the Hallmark Cards headquarters.

“BNIM is committed to Kansas City, our city, today and in the future,” said Steve McDowell, BNIM’s chief executive officer. “We were thoughtful about this move to Crown Center because it affords us the opportunity to demonstrate our passions for design, transforming existing buildings and the pursuit of the most innovative design ideas right here in Kansas City while remaining in the downtown we have always called home. All disciplines — architecture, landscape architecture, interiors, planning, urban design and environmental graphics — are collaborating in the transformation.”

BNIM began a search for office space after it had to abandon in February its plans to redevelop a vacant building owned by Shirley Helzberg at 1640 Baltimore Ave. Redevelopment of that building was fought by a citizens group opposed to tax incentives that would have been offered.

“I’m thrilled that BNIM has chosen to remain in Kansas City and am excited to see the firm’s new home in Crown Center,” said Mayor Sly James. “I know BNIM’s leadership team is happy to have some certainty and a positive result on which to focus its energies.”

Kansas City boosters had feared that the firm might move out of the city after the protracted opposition to its plan to renovate the Baltimore building with public tax assistance.

The Crown Center lease, at least in the near term, hinders BNIM’s plan to develop an environmental showcase. The firm did, though, cite Crown Center’s reduction in energy, waste and water consumption as favorable aspects of its relocation.

“We are excited to expand our relationship with BNIM and welcome them to Crown Center,” said Stacey Paine, president of Crown Center. “BNIM’s home office will demonstrate that design has the power to enhance the way we view and inhabit existing buildings, such as these at Crown Center.”

The company’s current offices at 1735 Baltimore have been used as interim office space since November 2014. The end of that lease requires the firm’s relocation.

BNIM employs more than 150 companywide. The firm was represented by JLL in the property search.

This story was originally published July 19, 2016 at 9:52 AM with the headline "BNIM will keep its headquarters in Kansas City."