Block Starts 300,000-SF Office, Signs Kiewit

LENEXA, KS-Block Development Co. is constructing two 150,000-sf office buildings here, one of which will be the new regional headquarters for Kiewit Power Inc. The company, based in Olathe, NE, is consolidating two currently separate offices, engineering and construction, into one of the buildings in the planned Renner Corporate Center. Kiewit, which will lease Corporate Center One, will hold a groundbreaking ceremony this morning for its new building.

The five-story buildings are going up on 22 acres at Renner Boulevard and Prairie Star Parkway. Kiewit, a worldwide energy provider, have about 800 employees and plan to hire another 200 to move into their building by June 2009, according to a company spokesman. “Though the economy is challenging, the power market is still showing strong growth,” he tells GlobeSt.com. The state and the city provided incentives to the power firm for their decision to stay and expand in the area, including about $600,000 for green design standards. Larry Glaze with the Staubach Co. represented the tenant in the lease.

The adjacent twin Corporate Center Two building will be constructed on spec, says Ken Block, president of the firm. “We hope our marketing efforts find us another large tenant or several tenants,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “This is a unique site, and we’ve had a tremendous amount of interest. It’s in a good growing area, the Kansas Highway 10/Interstate 435 corridor, and I know it’s one of the biggest development projects announced here in the past several years.”

He says he can’t give an exact project cost, but says construction of both buildings will be at between $16 million and $18 million each. Also, with some of the incentives, the company can offer lease rates at about $21.50 per sf, Block says.