Kansas City Front Page - Kansas City Business and Technology News

Kansas City Business News
Kansas City Front Page is a weekly news publication spotlighting attractions, jobe, events, business and hotels in Kansas City.

Kansas City Front Page

Kansas City News

Power & Light District

Truman Sports Complex

KC Fountains

Kansas City Hotels Guide features hotels listed by KC neighborhoods, KCI Airport, spotlight on local attractions, Kansas City community and business news, and current entertainment schedule for residents and visitors.

Governor Jay Nixon toured Talisen Technologies' high-tech energy control center, which includes computer systems that can track energy use at state buildings across Missouri.

Missouri Uses High Tech Monitoring to Track Energy Consumption
by Bob Moore, SLFP.com
ST. LOUIS, MO, (SLFP.com), April 26, 2010 - A little over one year ago, Missouri Gov. Nixon signed Executive Order 09-18, which requires all state agencies whose building management falls under the direction of the Office of Administration to implement policies that will reduce their energy consumption by 2 percent per year for the next 10 years.

In the first year alone, Gov. Nixon's administration has reduced its energy use by 5.6 percent. That equals a savings of more than $3 million for Missouri taxpayers. Electricity saved over 12 months in 2009 would power 2,500 Missouri homes for one year.

The Governor announced the savings today from the Creve Coeur, MO offices of Talisen Technologies, Inc., the contractor that has provided technology and support to the state of Missouri to make the reduction of energy consumption possible.

The Governor toured Talisen's high-tech energy control center, which includes computer systems that can track energy use at state buildings across Missouri. In remarks during a press conference following the tour, Gov. Nixon said, "I am committed to making state government more efficient, effective and accountable to the taxpayers, and that means we must look for every opportunity to cut costs and save money. Just like families and businesses across Missouri, we're finding innovative ways to stretch dollars, and reducing our energy consumption is a natural place to start."

"I appreciate the hard work of all the departments that contributed to this effort, and I especially applaud our energy-efficiency team within the Office of Administration," the Governor said. "We will continue these efforts in the coming years to trim these costs even more, and save more money for the people of Missouri."

In a conversation following the press conference, George Brill, founder and CEO of Talisen Technologies, Inc., explained some of the visuals which demonstrated how their systems monitor real-time the energy consumption for the State of Missouri.

"There was a summary of the reduction and energy use for the Truman Building itself. There was a graph that actually demonstrated last year's energy consumption for the entire state vs this year's consumption, which the Governor mentioned is down by 5.6%. There was a picture of a live access into the systems that control one of the prisons and how to actually manage those building automation systems remotely. There was a live picture of the state of Missouri and all the buildings that talk back to this network and to demonstrate that they are operating live," stated Brill.

A graduate of St. Louis University's Aeronautical Engineering program, Brill began his career as a structural engineer with the US Navy at McDonnell Douglas. Brill founded Talisen Technologies, Inc. in 1991 and partnered with Johnson Controls in 2006 to deliver the first Enterprise Sustainability Platform for the State of Missouri.

"In this deal, we manage a thousand government buildings across the state. We are preparing to start a project for the City of Kansas City," stated Brill, adding that they also do commercial buildings including Nestle in downtown St. Louis.

One Park Place Condo Development Receives Bridge Loan
KANSAS CITY, MO, (kansascityfrontpage.com), April 26, 2010- Canyon Capital Realty Advisors (Canyon) has provided a $25.5 million senior bridge loan to Park Place KC, LLC for the purchase of an existing construction loan and the completion of the remaining 85 unsold condominium units at One Park Place, a landmarked 20-story Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed building that has been converted to a residential condominium community.

The loan from Canyon will facilitate the completion of the interior finishes of the remaining units and the launch of an active sales and marketing campaign. Construction will commence immediately with units available for sale beginning in mid-Spring 2010.

One Park Place is a residential tower positioned between downtown Kansas City and Country Club Plaza and located immediately adjacent to the 176-acre Penn Valley Park. The building was constructed in 1963 as the corporate headquarters for an insurance and financial services firm and is currently the youngest building listed on the National Historic Register.

To date, improvements include the rehabilitation of the building façade, the replacement of all windows, mechanical, engineering, and plumbing systems, and the installation of an extensive amenities package that includes indoor and outdoor salt water swimming pools, a fitness center with yoga studio, private massage rooms, and locker rooms, wine storage and tasting facilities, a cigar room, pet facilities, an indoor golf driving range and an exhibition kitchen. These efforts have enabled the property to secure Missouri Historic Tax Credits as well as a ten-year property tax abatement, which benefits condominium buyers.

"This transaction demonstrates Canyon's interest in doing business with qualified borrowers who have a commitment to delivering high-quality projects," said Bobby Turner, Managing Partner of Canyon. "Furthermore, this transaction showcases Canyon's ability to provide the capital necessary to effectuate borrowers' timely purchase of their existing debt." "Canyon acquired the construction loan to facilitate the completion and sell-out of One Park Place," said Canyon Principal Jonathan Roth. "With Canyon's financing in place, the owners will be able to carry out the long-term vision for an incredible adaptive reuse project right in the heart of Kansas City."

The Kansas City Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Kansas City area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 2007 - 2010 Moore Design Group.