Sources: Occidental Management signs letter of intent to buy Union Station

Dec. 17, 20126:00 p.m.

WICHITA — After about five years of courtship with various suitors, it looks like Union Station finally may be engaged again.

Sources say Occidental Management has signed a letter of intent to buy the downtown property that Cox Communications owns and where it previously had its Kansas headquarters.

“We continue to have discussions with interested parties,” says Jay Allbaugh, Cox’s vice president of government and public affairs for the Cox Central Region.

Allbaugh won’t say anything further, and Occidental chairman and CEO Gary Oborny says he can’t comment on the situation.

Union Station and its 111,000-square-foot campus first went on the market in spring 2008, about a year after Cox left for bigger offices at 901 George Washington Blvd.

The list price for the former train station at 701 E. Douglas is $6.4 million.

Clay Center businessman Phil Frigon’s $5.5 million, 2009 deal to buy the campus to create a mixed-use development collapsed when he failed to reach an agreement for the city to lease parking from him for Intrust Bank Arena.

A mixed-use development that potentially would include retail, office and residential space and would help further revitalize downtown has been the top hope of potential uses for Union Station.

Oborny and Occidental have a history of converting older properties into new developments, most notably with the former Northrock 6 Theater at 32nd Street and North Rock Road. They converted the theater into an 80,000-square-foot, Class A office complex where Occidental now has its headquarters.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Filed under Downtown, Real estate | Comments Off

Pennsylvania-based Benco Dental to open office at Travel Air Building in Delano

Feb. 22, 20125:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Benco Dental, the third-largest dental dealer in the nation, will be moving to Delano in April.

“We sell everything that a dentist uses in his office,” says Dennis Doyle, a territory representative for the Pennsylvania-based company.

Benco, which arrived in Wichita about seven months ago, is taking 2,600 square feet in Occidental Management’s Travel Air Building at 535 W. Douglas.

The company has been in temporary Occidental space at Northwest Centre at 13th and Tyler while the new space is prepared.

“We’re going to keep the space very open to … show the old architecture of the building,” Doyle says.

There are brick walls and exposed timbers in the ceiling.

“We wanted someplace that wasn’t kind of sterile or an industrial park area,” Doyle says. He says the company wanted “a more relaxed setting.”

“Plus, it’s very centrally located for us as well.”

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , Filed under New business, Real estate | Comments Off

Pita Pit is returning to Rock Road

Jan. 3, 20126:42 p.m.

WICHITA — Pita Pit is returning to Wichita under new ownership.

“This is kind of a mid-life crisis for me,” says Cammy Onek, an El Dorado resident who has been in education and coaching for years.

She and her husband, Chad, are opening a Pita Pit in the former Froz space in Occidental Management’s Northrock Retail Center at 3242 N. Rock Road.

Another franchisee previously had a Pita Pit at 320 N. Rock Road.

The Oneks were considering becoming franchisees when they learned Pita Pit is based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where Cammy Onek has relatives and visited every year growing up.

“For me, that was one of those a-ha moments,” she says.

What initially attracted her, Onek says, is that Pita Pit is healthy fast food.

“What really caught me is it’s just a new way to eat.”

There are meat and veggie pitas, breakfast pitas and soups and salads.

“We want you to feel better when you walk out the door than when you walk in,” Onek says.

The Oneks are partners in the business with Tim and Michelle Aberson and Lowell and Marti Aberson.

“Pretty much it will be my baby to be in there day in and day out,” Onek says.

She plans to approach it as she would being a coach or a principal, meaning she’ll be there every day and be visible.

“That’s how I’m going to make it or break it.”

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Filed under East side, Restaurants | Comments Off

Wasabi Japanese Restaurant owner to open similar concept in former Bossa Grill space

Aug. 11, 20115:30 a.m.

WICHITA — Wasabi Japanese Restaurant owner Eun Young still has plans for an east-side restaurant, but they’ve changed slightly.

Young, whose first Wasabi is at 912 E. Douglas in Old Town, signed a deal this spring to open a similarly named restaurant in the 1,782-square-foot former Froz space at 3242 N. Rock.

After striking that deal with Occidental Management, Young learned of another nearby Occidental space that became available.

Now, he’s worked out a deal to take that 3,200-square-foot space where Bossa Grill used to be.

“He wanted the bigger space and obviously liked that it was already built out for a restaurant,” says Occidental president Chad Stafford.

He handled the lease with Occidental’s Bree Kelley.

Stafford also sold Young the restaurant equipment in the building.

Young is tweaking his Wasabi concept.

“I am going to try to be kind of a little bit . . . upscale,” he says.

The name will still be Wasabi, but it will be spelled differently. Young hasn’t decided how yet.

He likes the expanded space because it will allow him to do booths.

“I can make it more private.”

Young hopes to open in about two months.

Stafford is now working on finding a new tenant for the former Froz space.

“We’ve got several interested parties right now.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , Filed under East side, Leases, Real estate, Restaurants | Comments Off

Wichita Crime Commission to move a few blocks

July 22, 20111:03 p.m.

WICHITA — The Wichita Crime Commission is moving this fall.

“Right now we’re pretty cramped in 720 square feet,” says executive director Gordon Bassham.

Also, the current office at 125 N. Market doesn’t have much parking, so Bassham says that forces the public and the commission’s 180 members to have to park elsewhere and walk.

The commission is taking more than 1,700 square feet in Occidental Plaza at 300 N. Main St.

The commission is a privately funded nonprofit that works with law enforcement to support it and fight crime in a proactive way.

“We needed more room for potential future growth,” says Bassham, who is working to grow membership.

He says the commission is closely affiliated with Crime Stoppers, and there’s room at Occidental Plaza for that group to potentially have an office there as well.

Chad Stafford and Stephanie Wiens of Occidental Management handled the deal.

Bassham says the move will happen in November.

“We expect to be in the new location for quite some time.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Downtown, Leases, Real estate | Comments Off

Physiotherapy Associates to open at Auburn Pointe

July 19, 20116:49 a.m.

UPDATED — Physiotherapy Associates, which has more than 650 sites nationally, is coming to Wichita for the first time in early September.

The Pennsylvania-based company is taking 2,000 square feet at Occidental Management’s Auburn Pointe development at 135th West and Maple.

Occidental’s Chad Stafford and Bree Kelley handled the deal. Bradley and Brandon Tidemann of J.P. Weigand & Co. represented Physiotherapy Associates.

The company provides outpatient physical therapy and has an orthotics and prosthetics division as well.

Initially, the clinic will have a physical therapist and an athletic trainer.

Physiotherapy Associates also is looking to add two more clinics in the Wichita area.

Stafford, Occidental’s president, says another restaurant is in the works for Auburn Pointe, where Great Wall, Scooter’s Coffeehouse and Subway already are and Papa Murphy’s is coming.

That leaves only one space left to lease at the 5-year-old, 36,540-square-foot center.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Filed under Health care, Leases, Real estate, West side | Comments Off

Grene Vision Group expands in three communities

May 6, 201110:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Grene Vision Group is expanding in several markets.

“We’ve been busy,” says CFO Troy Biggs.

In Derby, the group is adding 1,700 square feet to its existing 3,200 square feet at Spring Creek.

The “economy down there seems to be doing well,” Biggs says. “We thought it was a good move.”

Chad Stafford with Occidental Management handled the deal.

In Andover, Grene Vision Group is moving to a newly renovated, larger site at 135 S. Andover Road.

The new 3,000 square feet will allow for a larger office and an expanded optical department.

The move will happen in the early part of June.

In Augusta, the group is moving within the same office park it’s currently in on Brookside Court just off of Ohio Street.

“We lost the lease with our landlord so it provided a great opportunity actually for us to build a new location right there,” Biggs says.

The new building, which will be ready in late September, will be 3,000 square feet.

Grene Vision Group has about 20 sites across Kansas with 42 physicians.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , Filed under Andover, Augusta, Derby, Healthcare, Leases, Medical, Real estate | Comments Off

Coffee House to move, expand in Derby

April 8, 20114:11 p.m.

WICHITA — The Coffee House in Derby is moving across the street and doubling its space.

It’s currently at Bristol Square at Rock and Madison and is moving to Spring Creek at the same intersection.

“I’ll be able to do a little bit more,” says Carmon Davidson, who owns the business with her husband, Lee.

She’s OK with where the drive-through business is now, but Davidson says it’s not quite as visible as she’d like.

Also, her new kiosk will have a patio.

“That’s one thing my customers always talk about,” she says.

In addition to selling coffee and muffins, Davidson will expand her line of pastries at the new space and add breakfast and lunch sandwiches as well.

Occidental Management president Chad Stafford handled the lease at Spring Creek, which is an Occidental property.

The new space will open by late June.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Derby, Leases, Real estate, Restaurants | Comments Off

Cohlmia Marketing to move to Delano

March 30, 20115:45 a.m.

UPDATED — Cohlmia Marketing is moving from one historic building to another.

The marketing-communication firm has been in the Yellow Cab building in Old Town for a decade.

It’s moving to the Travel Air Building at 535 W. Douglas in Delano.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to have some Douglas street exposure,” says president Carol Skaff.

That’s partly why she’s moving.

“We’re kind of off the beaten path here,” she says of her location on Mosley Street between First and Second streets.

That’s the same building where Egg Cetera is.

“It really is a wonderful location,” Skaff says. “We have really enjoyed Old Town.”

When the office opened there, there was no Old Town Square.

“The energy has been building,” Skaff says. “It’s been really fun to be part of that.

“At this time, the energy of Delano is really starting to, I guess, percolate,” she says. “They’ve just been doing so many interesting developments, and it has an interesting creative vibe, and that was attractive to us.”

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Filed under Advertising, Delano, Downtown, Leases, Old Town, Real estate | Comments Off

Northrock Shopping Centre fully leased with the addition of Model Nails

Oct. 25, 20105:46 a.m.

UPDATED — A new lease by Model Nails means Occidental Management’s Northrock Shopping Centre near 32nd North and Rock Road is fully leased.

“We’re going to be 100 percent occupied there,” says president Chad Stafford. “We’re pumped.”

Salon partners Tammy Ho and David Lee are moving their business from 1,500 square feet at 3236 N. Rock to 2,200 square feet at Northrock. Ho says they wanted more visibility for the 10-year-old salon.

Stafford says there’s also a letter of intent for the company’s Northrock offices. If the lease happens, that center also would be fully occupied. Look for more news on that soon.

Occidental began the office project in December 2007 and moved its headquarters there in August 2008.

The retail portion broke ground in early 2009.

“We’re excited that in what’s been a challenging market here over the last year and a half that we’re able to get a couple of assets up to 100 percent occupancy,” Stafford says.

He says a lot of those deals have happened thanks to networking within the real estate community and through groups like chamber committees.

“It shows that doing some grassroots marketing has paid off for us really well.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Northrock Shopping Centre, Real estate, Retail, Salons | Comments Off