BKD's big move within sight

After two long years of scouring Springfield for the right spot to relocate its corporate headquarters, BKD LLP is about to break ground right across the street from the iconic office tower its employees have called home for 21 years.

And during the next year, those employees will watch from their Hammons Tower offices as the accounting firm’s Federal Reserve-inspired digs sprout from a parking lot that once served the neighboring University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center. Click here for a look at the full project rendering.

BKD’s soon-to-be landlord, Opus Northwest LLC, now owns the narrow 1.8-acre site directly behind the bronze statue of hotelier John Q. Hammons. The Kansas City-based design-build firm expects to start the four-story signature office building in September, said Dave Harrison, vice president of real estate development. BKD has inked a 15-year lease as the building’s main tenant.

The firm’s corporate offices will occupy the top floor, and its Springfield practice unit – headed by Partner in Charge John Wanamaker – will inhabit the building’s second and third floors for a grand total of more than 80,000 square feet. The 23,000-square-foot ground floor will be leased to smaller office tenants, Harrison said.

Even after months of planning, negotiating and budgeting, Wanamaker is energized: BKD’s big move is right around the corner.

“When we moved into the Hammons Tower, firmwide we set the bar – but that was 20 years ago,” he said. “Now we’re at the bottom of the heap in terms of what our folks actually see. … Internally, I think the new building is just going to have a huge cultural and morale boost for us.”

Downtown devotion

In August 1987 – just months before the Black Monday stock market crash – BKD moved its 97 employees into the freshly constructed Hammons Tower. The accountants had spent 25 years in the McDaniel Building on Park Central East, and before that, the firm’s offices were housed in the Landers Building.

More than two years ago, BKD executives agreed another move was inevitable. The functionality of Hammons Tower, where 300-plus BKD employees now work on seven of the building’s 22 floors, has faded with time. The firm recently hauled off file cabinets to make room for 14 employees hired this summer.

BKD’s top brass wanted to keep the firm downtown, but they were confronted with a dearth of real estate options in center city. The search quickly shifted to possible suburban sites, which BKD officials were vetting when a plot twist redirected their attention downtown.

In late 2006, developer Hammons abandoned plans to build a multipurpose arena between Jordan Valley Car Park and the Springfield Exposition Center, and instead partnered with Missouri State University to build the $67 million JQH Arena on campus.

With the 1.7-acre sliver of land available for development, the city solicited proposals that included a four-star hotel. BKD also pitched a pair of office buildings, one for its much-needed headquarters.

City officials eventually issued a second request for proposals instructing developers to submit plans for a hotel-office complex, but the resulting high-rise towers didn’t jell with BKD’s vision.

“At the end of the day, it looked like BKD was an afterthought to a hotel, and we just could never get comfortable with that,” Wanamaker said.

In the end, the city approved a proposal by John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts to build a four-star Embassy Suites hotel on the parcel. Hammons, in turn, agreed to sell property at the southwest corner of St. Louis Street and John Q. Hammons Parkway to Opus Northwest for construction of BKD’s state-of-the-art nerve center.

“It’s an urban building with a really nice pedestrian feel to it,” said Opus Northwest’s Harrison. “It’s a really handsome-looking building.”

Harrison said the total project cost would exceed $20 million.

LEED certification and layout

Opus Northwest has designed center city’s newest office building with a variety of environmentally friendly features, including a white roof and window tinting.

Those features and others – plus adherence to construction practices aimed at minimizing waste – should earn the building Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, Harrison said.

Gary Schuberth, Opus Northwest’s architectural design manager, said the building project also would receive credit toward LEED certification for its proximity to bus stations and on-site bicycle racks.

Native plantings and an irrigation system equipped with rain sensors will reduce typical outdoor water usage by 50 percent, and plumbing fixtures should cut interior water usage by about 20 percent, said Schuberth, a LEED-accredited professional.

Schuberth and Construction Project Manager Ryan Zink are still honing the building’s energy performance, which Zink said could be improved by upgrading rooftop air-conditioning units.

BKD is simultaneously working with Kevin Harden of Kansas City-based Gastinger Walker Harden Architects on the interior design theme and furnishings. Wanamaker said BKD plans to purchase all new amenities so that employees will have very little to move other than personal belongings and files.

The practical layout of BKD’s new headquarters will be a big plus, Wanamaker said, noting that departments whose employees work closely with each other will be clustered for convenience. He said the building also would boast high-tech workstations.

Neal Spencer, managing partner of BKD’s corporate office, said he’s looking forward to a new phone system that will allow employees to direct-dial their co-workers at offices in 11 other states. There is, however, one drawback to leaving his 18th floor Hammons Tower office behind.

“I’m certainly going to miss the high-rise view,” Spencer said.

High-rise Space Available

When BKD moves into the building in fall 2009, the firm will leave 65,000 square feet of office space available for lease in Hammons Tower. Mark Harrell with Plaza Realty & Management Services said the leasing company will accommodate some existing tenants looking to expand and will recruit new ones by stepping up marketing efforts as BKD’s departure date nears.

Law firms, insurance agencies and government offices are among the types of tenants already leasing space in Hammons Tower, and Harrell expects more of the same after BKD sets up shop across the street. The accounting firm was a model tenant, he added.

“It’s been a good landlord-tenant relationship that has served both parties well, and we hope to find as good a replacement tenant,” Harrell said. [[In-content Ad]]