City hires new company to bring businesses to Nottingham

The city is going in a new direction to help draw businesses to the Nottingham Center development after a vote at Monday’s City Commission meeting.

The city will work with Foundations Commercial Real Estate, based in Lawrence, to bring a more local perspective to the project.

Previously, the city had a brokerage contract with CBRE, a Kansas City company, to fill the pad sites. The city signed the agreement in November 2021.

As much of the space remains empty, CBRE had estimated the area would be mostly filled by 2024.

To date, the city has paid CBRE about $53,000. Of that amount, CBRE received $26,400 for Mid-America Bank based on the contract to provide a 6% commission. 

CBRE also received $10,125 for Scooter’s Coffee, a 3% commission, Assistant City Manager Zack Daniel said in an email to the Times. The other 3% of the Scooter’s commission was paid to the selling agent Winbury Realty.

For CBRE’s property management of the businesses, the city has paid about $16,460 so far. Property management is part of a separate agreement with CBRE that expires in 2025. Under this agreement, the firm handles maintenance, repairs, vendor contracts, processes any claims or complaints in the district, etc, Daniel said.

The city has talked at length about making sure businesses that come in match the small-town atmosphere that Eudora wants to keep, and not rushing to put in big chain fast food places. Mayor Tim Reazin hopes that Foundations will better understand the needs of Eudora.

The fee structure is similar to the one the city had with CBRE. They get paid when pad sites sell. The one-year agreement would give 6% of the gross pad sale price to Foundations.

CEO and founder Kirsten Flory presented to the commission about her hopes for the space and her company’s values at the meeting.

Flory has been in the Douglas County community for about 30 years, and has worked in real estate brokerage for over 10 years. She started Foundations over two years ago, she said.

She said the company enjoys working with smaller businesses in smaller markets, especially in the Midwest where communities are smaller markets.

“I think that’s what’s interesting about what Eudora is all about,” Flory said. “But most importantly, the fact that we live and work here, and we have a pretty broad reach when it comes to the development community, not just in Eudora, but really across the state and across the Midwest.”

Flory congratulated the city for having foresight to do something as advantageous as Nottingham years ago.

Foundation’s marketing strategy won’t be all that different from previous brokerages, she said. They have the same tools bigger companies do like research analytics and reach.

What makes them a little different is having one-on-one relationships with developers and site selectors throughout the Midwest, she said.

Flory said Foundations also works with companies on multi-market growth strategies to help them decide why they want to grow within a specific community, what the best fit for them is and the best fit for the property owner.

“We’ve tapped into a pretty robust social media advertising strategy, which is a little bit more unique,” Flory said.

As the demographic gets younger, Foundations wants to make sure they are out in front of people in a different way to capture their feedback and discuss differently.

Flory is also involved with the Economic Development Corporation of Douglas County, the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Kansas to help Foundations tap into economic development initiatives across the state.

Flory will be working with brokerage associate Landon Berquist and social media marketing director Katie Hinkle.

Reazin said Foundations had addressed his concerns about not bringing in business just to bring in business and helping to keep people’s tax dollars here.

“I think Foundations will have a better understanding of what our community needs,” Reazin said after the meeting. “They’re more willing to bring the business or retail to us that is what we asked for, not what they think we need but what we as a community have needs for.”

Reazin said he hopes Foundations will be responsive, and someone who is willing to come to a meeting and have discussion.

Commissioner Roberta Lehmann agreed their being local and knowing the market around Douglas County is what she hopes to get out of the partnership.

“I feel like that’s probably going to be a good fit for us, and I also liked that she said it’s going to be a long game, you know, not looking to sell everything in a month,” Lehmann said.

Gaining a different perspective will set Foundations apart from their previous contract, Commissioner Tim Bruce said

“They bring a different view on how real estate works in a community our size than I think a large national firm does. So I mean, really, it’s just a different perspective,” Bruce said.

Flory said land development is the long game, and moving slowly enables Foundations to curate along the way.

“I would love to tell you that we’re going to meet a year from now and your whole development is going to be full and you’re gonna be rocking and rolling,” Flory said. “I doubt that will be the case, as you’ve already seen with the current developments, and that’s on purpose.”

When the project is all said and done, the project might shift from what it originally looked like in the initial renderings, and that’s okay because it means the team is looking long and hard to plan for all the elements. Flory said.

Providing sales tax revenue and complementing use to the neighbors around it is their priority, she said.

Foundations has worked on The Mercato of West Lawrence, The Crossing at KU, and a project on Lone Elm and College Blvd in Olathe.

CBRE will still be in charge of property management for the existing businesses in the development.

The commission voted unanimously to allow the city manager to enter into a contract with Foundations.

In other business, the city accepted a bid for a new fire department five-year strategic plan. The plan, which was included in the most recent budget, will come from the Public Policy Management Center for Wichita State University.

They offered more specifics that catered to who Eudora is and what their needs are, especially from a limited funding perspective, Fire Chief Mindy Andrasevits said.

Neither of the companies that provided the last two strategic plans submitted bids this time, so that made the experience a little unique since there is less continuity, Reazin said.

City Manager Kevyn Gero said both companies said they were unable to fit the project into their schedules.

Lehmann said the company not selected was not aware of Panasonic growth or Eudora, while Wichita State had better knowledge about changes coming to the area.

The plan is estimated to cost $23,250.

The city also set a public hearing to move forward with the creation of a reinvestment housing incentive district. The state also renamed the district a reinvestment district, rather than rural.

All this action does is establish the Jan. 22 public hearing for the creation of the district in Shadow Ridge North, Assistant City Manager Zack Daniel said. Between now and then, the city will put together financial studies, feasibility analysis and a draft development agreement to discuss at the public hearing agreement.

In other business, the property at 701 Main will likely receive renovations after bids were approved for exterior masonry restoration, window replacement and storefront replacement.

This has been the fourth round of bids for the community development block grant project, as previous bids were unsuccessful.

The commission voted to approve the bid from Zingre and Associates for $315,000 which is within the project’s original budget, Daniel said. The bid is still subject to CDBG approval, he noted.

The police department is in need of another vehicle after a suspect rammed a police vehicle leaving it totaled in October, Police Chief Wes Lovett said. The city will move forward with the purchase not to exceed $45,000.

The department will use the insurance payout of $18,000 combined with the savings they have in the car accessory line item to purchase a new vehicle found in Wichita.

Finding a matching Durango has been a problem, so the department is considering going with a truck. Reazin wishes there was uniformity between the fleet, but understands that may not be possible in this situation.

Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected]

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