Ascension Via Christi leaving sizable east-side space: ‘COVID’s changed the world’

A dozen years after moving a lot of administration and other back-office functions to the Thorn Building, Ascension Via Christi is leaving the property near 37th North and Rock Road — along with more than 100,000 square feet that owner Garry McNabb now has to lease.

“Well, obviously it’s not good from my standpoint, but when you’re in the real estate business, it happens,” he said.

The Tennessee-based McNabb said he’s in it for the long term, so it’s OK.

“It has been a wonderful space to occupy, and whoever gets to occupy it going forward I’m sure will enjoy it,” said Kevin Strecker, Ascension Kansas ministry market executive and senior vice president for Ascension.

“I’ll tell you, the building owners have done a fabulous job of not only maintaining it but improving it.”

The campus includes two buildings connected by a walkway that total about 150,000 square feet.

Ascension had about 100,000 square feet and subleased another 13,000 to Integra Technologies, which also is leaving.

At the time Ascension moved into the building in 2009, the organization was doing a lot of remodeling to convert its previous office spaces into private hospital rooms.

Now, Strecker said, the goal is to maximize space “to, of course, be good stewards of our resources.”

“When the pandemic hit, we obviously sent a lot of people home to work remotely, and we established processes that frankly allowed them to continue to work remotely and be equally productive and effective.”

Some employees will remain remote workers — an enticement Strecker said is necessary in the competitive health care field — some will have hybrid jobs that combine remote and in-person work, and the majority of Ascension’s employees will continue to work in person in medical settings.

Employees moving out of the Thorn building are moving or have already moved to Ascension’s existing real estate adjacent to hospital operations.

For instance, the leadership team is moving to 848 N. Emporia near Ascension Via Christi St. Francis.

“We just felt like it made sense for us to move back into those buildings,” Strecker said.

The lease is up in June, but Strecker said everyone will be out by February or March.

“Ascension’s been great to work with,” McNabb said.

“COVID’s changed the world is the bottom line.”

McNabb bought the building in 2019, and he said the former Rent-A-Center headquarters had fallen into disrepair.

“When I bought it, the building needed a lot of work done to it,” he said.

“The tenants suffered because of that. . . . I spent a couple million dollars working on it, refurbishing it. It’s really a beautiful building.”

The building has a pickleball court, a fitness center and a walking area.

“We’ve got a great product to market,” McNabb said.

He’s also purchased not quite 30 acres that surround the building on three sides and is in talks with a couple of people looking to buy tracts of it.

“I’m looking real seriously at building a bunch of apartments across from this building,” McNabb said. “It’s just a matter of when.”

He said he’ll take about 12 acres for apartments, and the rest will be for sale for office, warehouse and possibly food options.

“I’m not going to let just anything come on the property,” McNabb said. “I don’t want a metal building sitting beside this big building.”

He said the apartments would complement the building. McNabb owns all or part of eight apartment complexes in six states, and he said he likes to have amenities such as splash pads or indoor pools.

“I try to do something better than what the competition has.”

McNabb said he feels good about the apartment market and the growing area around the Thorn building.

“I thought it was a good investment. Wichita is a vibrant town.”