Waddell & Reed to start building its ‘iconic’ downtown Kansas City tower within weeks
Overland Park’s Waddell & Reed financial services firm plans to break ground on its new downtown Kansas City office tower within the first quarter of this year, promising what it calls an “iconic, state-of-the-art design.”
The company announced on Friday it had finalized a lease agreement on the new building to go up at 1400 Baltimore Avenue, just east of the Kansas City Convention Center. It plans to move in sometime in the first half of 2022.
It also released renderings of the new tower, with an aesthetic that somewhat mirrors the shiny silver exterior of Strata, a speculative 25-story office tower planned for the southwest corner of 13th and Main streets.
Waddell & Reed said its new 260,000-square-foot building will rise 18 stories. It will include more than 150 “collaboration spaces” for meetings and have outdoor balconies on every level. Employees will enjoy free parking, along with bike storage and electric car charging stations.
Previous development plans filed with the city called for 10 floors of parking and eight floors of office space, but on Friday company officials did not say whether those figures are still accurate.
“As we finalize details we’ll be in a better position to provide specifics on all aspects of the building and its amenities,” said spokesman Roger Hoadley, who noted construction will take about two years to fully complete.
Kansas City-based Burns & McDonnell will complete exterior design and construction, and HOK will design the interior. The design will pursue LEED efficiency standards. The building will also include a fitness center, ergonomic sit-to-stand desks and a rooftop terrace level with a conference center, full-service café and “distinctive views of Kansas City.”
But all those features will come at a premium price: an attorney representing Waddell & Reed previously said the firm would pay a rent of at least $40 per square foot — well above the norm for downtown or any part of the metro. That means the firm could pay more than $10 million in annual rent.
The project, one of the last in the economic Border War between Kansas and Missouri, has been heavily criticized.
The Kansas City Council last month approved $35 million in incentives to help bring the company and its 1,000 jobs across the state line. That’s on top of about $62 million in state incentives from the Missouri Works program. All told, the benefits represent nearly 70% of the $140 million project budget.
In exchange for the incentives, the company has committed to bringing 1,039 workers to downtown Kansas City, with an average total annual compensation of more than $157,000.
In a news release, CEO Philip J. Sanders said the primary purpose of the new offices was to help the firm attract top talent.
“This site offers the opportunity to showcase downtown Kansas City to the thousands of visitors to our company, including management teams from major corporations across the country,” Sanders said.
Waddell & Reed will not own the tower but will rent it from developers.
In the news release, the CEO noted his financial services company was founded in Kansas City in 1937 before later moving to Johnson County. He also pointed to the firm’s ongoing “transformation,” which comes at a time of major change in the investment business.
“We have made significant progress on improving our operational business model over the past two years. Now we are in a position to focus on our long-term vision and growth strategy,” Sanders said. “This move will serve as a key enabler of this strategy and better position our organization for growth opportunities to achieve that long-term vision and strategy.”
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 3:46 PM.
