Salivating over Cerner

The recently announced, $150 million, 600,000-square-foot Cerner Corp. office development in Wyandotte County is projected to bring 4,000 new employees to the area.

The potential relocation of those workers to western Johnson County, only minutes away, has real estate agents and economic leaders salivating.

“The development will definitely drive traffic here,” Prudential real estate agent Alana Logan said. “Buyers looking in this market are interested in the Shawnee Mission and De Soto schools.

“The (housing) inventory seems to have leveled out somewhat in Shawnee and Lenexa, so I would hope that this might change our market from somewhat of a buyers market to maybe more of an even market or a stable market.”

Logan said the creation of jobs having a positive influence on the residential market is a typical trend.

“For example, when Sprint does their major hires or layoffs it affects all the areas around it, so I think Cerner would certainly bring traffic to the area,” she said.

Pat Regan, real estate agent with Coldwell Banker, said the Cerner development would boost home sales in western Johnson County.

“Our company does a lot of relocation and group moves – nothing on the scale with Cerner – but even when you do a smaller group move, you’ll see that it has an effect on residential sales in the immediate area,” he said. “So this can only have a large effect for Wyandotte, especially Piper, as well as western Shawnee and western Lenexa.”

Jim Martin, Shawnee economic development director, said the project should spur the city’s economy.

“We have tried to market the Interstate 435 corridor as a professional office market, but having Cerner make such a huge commitment to this west loop really puts Shawnee in an advantageous position,” he said. “There will be a certain amount of spin-off development as a result.”

Martin said Shawnee’s residential market has been slow to rebound from the economic downturn.

“We have been touting the advantages of Shawnee to Realtors who specialize in other parts of the metro. If we can get those folks to show their clients homes in Shawnee, we could fill up some of the vacant inventory and spur future development,” he said. “If 4,000 people come to work at Cerner in Wyandotte County, with us just a 10-minute drive away, we should be very well-positioned. We’ve got the whole range of housing here – medium, moderate and some of the upper level stock that would be attractive to those workers.

“While we’d love to have the Cerner development in Shawnee, we’re very upbeat that we’ll be able to gain some benefit, both direct and indirect.”

The Cerner office development is part of a $414 million project that includes a stadium for the Kansas City Wizards, as well as a proposed hotel, and a soccer field complex for tournaments and practices to be built on land owned by Nebraska Furniture Mart near the Kansas Speedway. A groundbreaking is planned for 2010, with the soccer stadium and offices expected to be completed by 2011.

Blake Schreck, Lenexa Chamber of Commerce president, said the project will have “a tremendous impact” on the city.

“This huge concentration of jobs will add to what we’re doing with hotel and retail development and general economic development up and down the 435 corridor,” he said. “There will be a ripple effect with great economic impacts. People will want to live nearby, and it’s a 10-minute drive down 435 into Shawnee, Lenexa, even Overland Park.

“Of course, if you couple the Wizards and Cerner with the casino project … that also has a big tourism and employment aspect. It’s just great news for everybody on this side of 435.”

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