A Quest for Space: The Company’s Current Lease Expires in 2008, and It Has Begun Exploring Its Options.
By Kevin Collison, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Jan. 23–Embarq Corp. is searching for space to accommodate up to 1,400 employees, an initiative expected to trigger fierce competition among landlords and development agencies throughout the area.
Kessinger/Hunter & Co. has been hired to help Embarq explore options in the area for office space, an Embarq spokesman said Monday.
The employees are working in 300,000 square feet Embarq is leasing at Sprint Nextel Corp.’s operational headquarters in Overland Park. That lease expires in 2008.
“Our lease is up out there, and we have 1,200 to 1,400 people,” said spokesman Charles Fleckenstein. “We have to find a home for them.”
It is the opening gun of a real estate scramble that has been anticipated since the telecommunications firm was spun off by Sprint Nextel last year.
“Who wouldn’t want them? They’re a high-profile company,” said Jeff Kaczmarek, president and CEO of the Kansas City Economic Development Corp.
While the initial search does not involve Embarq’s corporate headquarters at 5454 W. 110th St. in Overland Park, the decision will be part of what Fleckenstein called a “long-term strategy for the Kansas City area both in terms of financial aspects and the employee experience.”
“We are in the process of getting data from our … employees about what amenities they like, how far they drive, food service, parking and other factors,” he said.
Embarq is in the “situational analysis phase” of a process that is expected to last through this year, Fleckenstein said. At the end of the process, the company may decide to stay put on the Sprint Nextel campus should it be able to strike a favorable deal.
“There is a commitment by our leadership to the Kansas City area, and we are comfortable with what our current situation offers us with the relative proximity of buildings,” Fleckenstein said.
“We do need to address our situation on the Sprint Nextel campus in the near term and will be in the process of evaluating opportunities in the Kansas City area shortly.”
Embarq has about 4,500 employees in the area and about 20,000 nationwide, making it large enough to qualify as a Fortune 500 company.
It has expanded its primary market as a local telephone company to include high-speed Internet and other services to customers in parts of Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Kansas and 13 other states. Embarq is also offering its own brand of wireless service.
Such a high-profile company is a hot commodity in a real estate market like Kansas City, which has few major corporate headquarters.
Kaczmarek said his city-run economic development agency had had preliminary conversations with Embarq.
“We would covet Embarq big time,” he said. “They’re a marquee company, and they’re doing well. We’d be very aggressive to have them here in Kansas City.”
Kansas City has a shortage of the kind of “flagship” companies that Embarq represents, Kaczmarek said.
“They stamp you as a big league city,” he said. “It’s great to have H&R Block downtown, and we’d like to have another major headquarters downtown.”
Overland Park would like those workers to stay put, said Tracey Osborne, president of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re always interested in maintaining any job presence here, but particularly with Embarq being a headquarters,” she said. “We want them to maintain as large of a presence as possible in Overland Park.”
To reach Kevin Collison, call (816) 234-4289 or send e-mail to kcollison@kcstar.com.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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