Cerner plans to ditch most of its Kansas City real estate after merger with Oracle
Oracle plans to vacate most of Cerner’s real estate in Kansas City following its purchase of the health care IT firm this summer.
Oracle Cerner told employees over the weekend that the company would vacate its world headquarters campus in North Kansas City and one of its South Kansas City campuses.
The company will consolidate its local workers at its Innovations campus near Interstate 435 and Bannister Road. Located at the former Bannister Mall site, Cerner unveiled the first phase of that 290-acre campus in 2016.
“The Innovations campus encompasses nearly 2 million square feet of modern office space, offering several dining options, a comprehensive fitness center, and many other modern workplace amenities,” said spokeswoman Misti Preston. “Plus, the Innovations campus offers a large amount of room to further expand as our workforce grows in the region.”
Cerner will drastically reduce its footprint across the metro area and potentially put millions of office square footage on the market at a time when office real estate has struggled to rebound from the pandemic rise of remote work. In addition to the headquarters campus, Oracle Cerner plans to vacate its Realizations campus, which is housed in the former Marion Labs facility in South Kansas City.
Last year, the firm listed its Continuous Campus near Village West in Kansas City, Kansas, for sale. The company previously listed its Riverport building, the former Sam’s Town Casino structure that Cerner used for employee training, for sale. And the company recently sold a building on North Oak Trafficway to NorthPoint Development.
North Kansas City Mayor Bryant DeLong said he learned of Cerner’s plans by reading social media posts from employees. He wasn’t sure what the company’s timeline or plans were for vacating the campus.
“We’re certainly disappointed to learn about it,” he said.
The mayor is hopeful the campus can be filled by other users in the future. He said he constantly gets calls from businesses hoping to relocate to North Kansas City, a city of fewer than 5,000 people.
“Generally, people want to be here,” he said. “So hopefully that applies to that site up there as well. But as of now we don’t know their timeline.”
Many of Oracle Cerner’s employees have been working virtually since the spring of 2020 and the company announced a new hybrid work model last summer.
Austin-based Oracle completed its $23 billion purchase of Cerner in early June. While mergers nearly always result in job cuts as companies cut redundant functions, Oracle has pledged to grow its presence of jobs in Kansas City. Before the merger, Cerner had been cutting its workforce as it sought to modernize the company.
“Oracle is excited to have the Kansas City region serve as a critical hub for the company’s workforce,” Preston’s statement said. “We are actively hiring and bringing people to the area from across Oracle’s operations. Employees love the city’s attractive characteristics like abundant housing options, strong schools, competitive sports, and a range of outdoor activities.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 10:35 AM.
