BNIM will Move Headquarters to Crown Center

BNIM will Move Headquarters to Crown Center

BNIM Offices to Become Model for Transformative Workplace Design

Kansas City, Mo. – July 19, 2016 – Kansas City-based architecture firm BNIM announces today that the firm will lease approximately 20,000 square feet of office space in Crown Center at 2460 Pershing Road to house its Headquarters. The move furthers BNIM’s commitment to reimagining and creating transformative space to showcase the latest workplace strategies, featuring sustainable and human-centered wellness design.

BNIM is signing a five-year lease with Crown Center and will locate to two floors of 2460 Pershing, part of Edward Larrabee Barnes’ Pershing Buildings, known as a "skyscraper on its side." BNIM was attracted to Crown Center’s environmental commitment, including recent completion of 2015 goals achieving 39% energy reduction, 25% water reduction and 61% waste reduction.

“BNIM is committed to Kansas City, our city, today and in the future,” says Steve McDowell, CEO, BNIM. “We were thoughtful about this move to Crown Center because it affords us the opportunity to demonstrate our passions for design, transforming existing buildings, and the pursuit of the most innovative design ideas right here in Kansas City, while remaining in the downtown we have always called home. All disciplines – architecture, landscape architecture, interiors, planning, urban design and environmental graphics – are collaborating in the transformation.”

BNIM began a search for interim and permanent office space in the Kansas City metro area following the decision to abandon the plans to redevelop1640 Baltimore in February of this year. The current offices at 1735 Baltimore have served as interim office space since November 2014. BNIM will continue to evaluate office space as need warrants. 

2460 is part of Crown Center’s Pershing Road office building, which includes six connected office structures that together contain nearly 600,000 square feet of space. The firm will be the first to take residency in the 270,000 square feet of space coming to market at the multi-use complex located on the southern edge of downtown Kansas City.  Today Crown Center includes 2 million square feet of office space, 1,454 hotel rooms, shops, restaurants, attractions and 235 residential units. The new sustainable and human-centered space designed by BNIM could serve as a model for future Crown Center projects.

“We are excited to expand our relationship with BNIM and welcome them to Crown Center, “ says Stacey Paine, President of Crown Center.  “BNIM’s selection of Crown Center for its headquarters shows the firm’s commitment to being a part of a vibrant and growing downtown Kansas City.  BNIM’s home office will demonstrate that design has the power to enhance the way we view and inhabit existing buildings, such as these at Crown Center.”  

BNIM currently employs 95 people in their Kansas City Headquarters and more than 150 company-wide. It is anticipated that the firm will take occupancy by the end of 2016. The firm was represented by JLL in the property search.

About BNIM
BNIM is one of the most important design firms working to redefine practice and building performance in architecture today. As early pioneers of sustainability in the building industry, BNIM continues to shape the national and global design conversation on design excellence and delivering transformational results for clients. The firm received the 2011 AIA National Architecture Firm Award for their work. Established in 1970, the firm has emerged as a leading resource for out-of-the-box methodologies, innovative technologies and cutting-edge research in the fields of architecture, planning, landscape, education and workplace design. The firm has offices in Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles, Calif.; San Diego, Calif.; and Des Moines, Iowa; and is incubating offices in Washington, DC; and Madison, Wis. For more information visit www.bnim.com

About Crown Center
Located on the southern edge of downtown Kansas City, Crown Center offers fine hotels, entertainment, dining, shopping, offices and residential living in the city’s burgeoning cultural arts and professional services district. The 85-acre complex, which opened in 1971 and serves as the international headquarters of Hallmark Cards, attracts more than five million visitors each year with two world-renowned attractions, SEA LIFE Aquarium Kansas City, and LEGOLAND® Discovery Center, and boasts one of the largest flexible meeting spaces in the Midwest at Sheraton Kansas City Hotel and The Westin Kansas City. Crown Center is home to two theaters, Musical Theater Heritage and the nationally acclaimed The Coterie, and more than 40 shops and restaurants. The flagship restaurant at Crown Center, The American, is the only Forbes Four Star and AAA Four Diamond recipient in Kansas City. The complex is also home to Halls Kansas City, the region's premier fashion destination. Visit http://www.crowncenter.com/ for more details. Connect on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.