Kansas City Office Market Report

Companies finalize office commitments, emphasizing in-person work policies. Several major headquarter moves by health care-related firms were announced last year. These included Oracle’s acquisition of Cerner Corporation, and the company’s announcement that it would consolidate all local employees to its existing South Kansas City headquarters. The relinquishment of the firm’s North Kansas City office space may present vacancy headwinds for the area. Meanwhile, Blue Cross and Blue Shield has reaffirmed its downtown presence by consolidating all 1,400 local employees into a new centralized headquarters. As both large and small firms conclude their physical space reshuffle, resulting in a slight uptick in vacancy this year, companies are indicating a willingness to have in-person workers long term. Health technology firm WellSky is expanding its existing headquarters in Overland Park to accommodate employees returning to the office, with the expectation of adding new positions in the coming years. While overall metro availability will shift up this year, a mild construction pipeline and encouraging return to office momentum should help Kansas City retain one of the lowest regional vacancy rates.