Tom Lesnak, president of the Independence Council for Economic Development, submitted a proposal earlier this week to the Independence City Council for a concept that would transform a prime vacant building into a technology and small business center.
Located at the northwest corner of Truman Road and Forest Avenue, the vacant building once housed Water Department offices and a customer service center. The Independence Utilities Center (17221 E. 23rd St.) relocated last November, creating the vacancy near the EDC’s Ennovation Center, a business-technology incubator.
Lesnak envisions the nearly 10,000-square-foot building as a hub for technology and small business startups to operate. Currently, the Ennovation Center, which also has food start-ups, is at capacity. Dubbed the Blu Building, the proposed tech-small business center would create functional workspace for up to 75 people. Lesnak’s proposal would create additional space needed for start-up businesses that have grown but are not yet ready to move from an incubator environment.
“We are still in the very early stages of concept for this project,” said Lesnak. “Last Monday we presented the concept to the Council during a study session to get the idea in front of them. There was no vote taken and we got positive feedback that we should continue to work towards a potential operating agreement between the City and EDC. We are currently at the stage of identifying redevelopment costs and doing our proforma on the operations of the facility to make sure it will cash flow adequately and, if not, what can be done to balance that out.”
The building, constructed in 1964, would involve significant renovation to serve its proposed purpose. Lesnak’s initial $200,000 estimate for renovation costs “was a best guess estimate and needs further refinement.”
Under the proposal, the city would retain building ownership while the EDC would manage it during a five-year, no-cost lease.
Lesnak said, “We still have to work out the details of that in the coming weeks, assuming we can make the operations work financially.”
The Independence EDC is committed to spurring further growth among area startups.
“After the success of the Ennovation Center incubator and that project being mostly full, we’ve seen a huge opportunity to support startup businesses,” said Lesnak. “We currently have just over 60 businesses working in the incubator. With the recent technology grant funds from the Missouri Technology Corporation last year, in addition to participating with Digital Sandbox KC, we have some resources available that can attract businesses to Independence if we have the physical space they need to get started. That is our goal with the redevelopment of the former water department building.”
