For years, downtowns were the cool place to be. Companies moved their offices to attract urban-minded millennials. Development continues in Kansas City’s downtown, but Johnson County hasn’t conceded. In fact, growth is strong in its office market. In the fourth quarter of 2018, 61 percent of multitenant buildings under construction were in Johnson County, accounting for 383,797 square feet, according to a report from global commercial real estate firm CBRE. In…

Woody Carter’s business is scheduling events in the newly renovated and rebranded Hy-Vee Arena. Business is brisk. “For 2019, we have six weekend days where there’s nothing on the books yet,” Carter, the arena’s events and sales manager, said Nov. 7. “We’re doing well, getting large tournaments. It’s a wonderful, multi-use space.” The former Kemper Arena — once host to professional basketball, hockey and soccer games, Final Fours and music legends…

Chris Gutierrez, president of KC SmartPort, is still surprised that in the last five to six years, over 25 million square feet of product and distribution building has been built on a speculative basis, meaning there was no tenant signed on at the outset of construction. “Developers and real estate teams are building these, hoping they get a client or tenant — and a majority of those have been filled….

In another sign of budding urban development, a grocery soon will sprout where a parking lot now sits in the historic Strawberry Hill neighborhood of downtown Kansas City, Kan. The Merc Co+op plans to open a $6 million, 12,000- to 14,000-square-foot grocery at the southwest corner of Fifth Street and Minnesota Avenue by early 2020. Currently, there is no full-service grocery in the vicinity. In addition to providing a much-needed…