Rockhill Strategic

10/11/2017

The KC metro is a great place for Amazon.com HQ2, and other HQs of all types. Mayor Sly James showing that in a fun way.

Mayor Sly James tweets picture of Amazon boxes. He will make announcement at 3 p.m. for the city of Kansas City that may focus on Amazon’s second headquarters.

09/01/2017

Hotel developments such as this reinforce that the Crossroads is maturing as a regional destination. It also demonstrates that KC as a leisure destination continues to deepen thanks to new amenities and the hard work of Visit KC. It's time to keep pushing and move forward. With approx 3,000 new hotel rooms in the pipeline, we have work to do.

By Kevin Collison A seven-story Hampton Inn hotel on the northeast corner of 16th and Main is expected to start construction in October, a project that is reinforcing the Crossroads reputation as t…

06/26/2017

More than 1,200 new hotel rooms are in the pipeline for downtown KC, in just two projects. Several hundred more are on the way with smaller projects. Occupancy and RevPAR have stayed strong and many older hotels have invested millions in refreshes. Finally the number of downtown hotel rooms in KC is catching up to our peer cities. Good news.

http://cityscenekc.com/two-major-hotel-projects-in-downtown-kansas-city-continue-to-moving-forward-in-addition-to-new-convention-hotel/

06/21/2017

New KC convention hotel picks up the Loews Hotel flag. New revised exterior rendering has much more glass. A very nice design revision.
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2017/06/21/convention-hotel-raises-a-different-flag.html

06/16/2017

Biggest retail news of the year, so far as Amazon.com announces they are buying Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion. The buy will add approximately 450 retail stores to their portfolio.
Grocery category disruption just hit 100.

The deal is the online giant’s latest push into food retail.

06/13/2017

Some good and bad news to start the week.

More large contractions in the mid-level retail market.
This follows on the heels of closings from Gymboree, Sears/Kmart, Bebe, Abercrombie, The Limited, Payless Shoes, BCBG.
I think the general assumption is that we will see these closings and Chapter 11 filings accelerate throughout the year.

It will be important to watch total leasable vacancies at the large power centers. Ones that are well capitalized should start investing in improvements that include event space and F&B.

​Ascena Retail Group said it will shutter a significant number of stores to drive cost savings.

03/23/2017

Historic The Kansas City Star building eyed for mixed-use conversion, will remain home of newspaper.
Hopefully primary development will be surface lots.

A letter of intent to purchase the historic newspaper building has been signed, and Star employees reportedly have been told they may be moving to the big green printing plant

03/21/2017

Target unveils design for split-personality store concept. New design will have two entrances, one for "quick service," one for full store experience.

Target's store of the future includes two entrances, one for convenient quick trips and the other to browse Target's broader fashion and lifestyle offerings.

03/13/2017

The headline is misleading, but the article is valuable.
Successful hotels are listening to what travelers want, and investing.
Travelers want:
- Easy and intuitive in-room technology.
- Modular furniture
- Energetic public space that blends visitors and locals.
- Local and fresh food/beverage

Some hotels are figuring out how to crack the millennial code. Hint: It's not just about having a hip lobby.

03/09/2017

RadioShack files for bankruptcy (again). A brand that simply could not find the right path to stay relevant. They held on to their brand and name too long. Never found a way to augment with online.

Sprint said it will take over “several hundred” stores as its own. RadioShack says it’s closing about 200 stores and evaluating options on the remaining 1,300. The company says several reasons, including its partnership with Sprint that proved not to be as profitable as expected, prompted the latest...