Marketing agency Sandbox to move 100 employees into former Populous HQ in River Market
After sitting largely vacant since its main tenant, Populous, left in 2015, the River Market building at 300 Wyandotte St. has a sizable lease.
Sandbox, a conglomeration of several different marketing agencies operating under one name, will consolidate its two Kansas City locations into the former Populous building, now called 3Y.
Sandbox confirmed that it took a nearly 30,000-square-foot lease at 3Y and plans to start moving its 100 local employees into the building in May or June.
“We were looking in town, really, not Overland Park or outside of downtown,” said Mark Goble, chief integration officer for Sandbox. “We thought that was kind of the vibe we were trying to create, a creative, collaborative space.”
The lease is the first since Somera Road, a New York private equity firm led by Ian Ross, purchased the building last year. The four-story building, constructed in 2005 to replace an old adult film house, had been tied up in a parking dispute that has since been settled.
“We are excited about their tenancy,” Ross said of Sandbox’s lease. “They’re a really strong company going through a lot of growth. They bring a lot of vibrancy to our building. They echo the ethos we’re trying to build at this building, and they perfectly represent the vision we have for this building.”
Sandbox is an agency made up of what had been several independent marketing and branding firms in different cities.
In Kansas City, Two West and McCormick Company became part of Sandbox in 2016. Two West operated out of a building near Penn Valley Park while McCormick Company’s offices were in 10 Main Center, the 20-story office building previously occupied by AMC Entertainment.
Sandbox will occupy space on the second and third floors of 3Y, including an indoor auditorium space. Sandbox has first rights of refusal for additional space in case the firm expands its presence in Kansas City.
Ross said 3Y still has between 55,000 and 60,000 square feet of available space to lease.
Steve Vockrodt: 816-234-4277, @st_vockrodt
This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Marketing agency Sandbox to move 100 employees into former Populous HQ in River Market."