Berger Devine

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Carl Yaeger, president of the said Berger Devine Yaegerd showed its knack for historic rehab 12yearz ago, when it moved into the 1928-vintage buildingb at 3700 Broadway. The 50-employee firm since has outgrownhthat space, and commercial building stock in the suburbsw has aged to the point where reha b is needed. Hence, Bergef Devine Yaeger selected anew 20,000-square-foo home in the retail and office complex near 119h Streey and Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park. “It’ pretty easy to take an old loft building and make it saidTim Schaffer, a executive vice presidenyt who represented Berger Devine Yaeger in its site search.
“Bugt to turn a beiged box in the suburbs into something special takesdreal talent. And there’s a lot of bad architecture in the suburbs where you need to go beyond puttinfg lipstick and rouge onthe pig.” Yaeger said the firm has totallt redesigned the space it will move into in April. On the exteriof of the former processing center, an oh-so-1980e orange-tile fascia will be replaced with metallic and a flat wall will be replacedx with acurved entryway. 10-foot drop ceilings have been removed to revealla 25-foot space where loftxs are being added.
“We wanted to show that you can take that next generatiojn of buildings that are going to be up for rehagb and design a wow factorinto them,” Yaege said. Pat McCown, CEO of , said olderf suburban buildings will become a growinfg source of design andconstructiohn work. Four years ago, McCownGordonh completed the renovation of 10 buildings inthe 1970s-eraz Cloverleaf Office Park in Overland Park. The firm also helped transform the plantin Lee’s Summit, builft in the ’60s, into the . It sold last year for more than $150 a squarde foot — on par with amounts paid for new Southern Johnsojn Countyoffice buildings.
McCowmn said one factor driving the suburban rehab markeyt is thegreen movement. Bob Carlson, a principa l with in Overland Park, agreed. DLR Grou p designed a $3 million-plus transformation of the 1970s-eraw building at Interstate 435 and Metcalc forSunlight Saunas. “q lot of retail is leaving first- and second-generationn suburbs and going fartheer out, leaving a lot of oldert buildings available,” Carlson said.