Wichita’s version of New York’s distinctive Flatiron Building is coming to Delano

At a time when the office space landscape is changing due to the coronavirus pandemic, one of the most interesting new office buildings in Wichita is in the works in Delano.

EPC Real Estate Group, whose 204-unit apartment complex called 225 Sycamore is taking shape in Delano, is planning an office building across the street on a triangular-shaped property at McLean and Sycamore.

“The building is designed to sort of look like the Flatiron Building in New York,” said Patrick Ahern, who is marketing the building with his NAI Martens colleague Grant Glasgow. “A lot of that has to do with the shape of the site.”

Glasgow called it an unusual kind of design for Wichita.

“It’s a building that’s going to stand out.”

The property is just north of where TGC Group is building a new Home2 Suites by Hilton and between the Advanced Learning Library and the River Vista Apartments.

It will be either a three-story, 30,000-square-foot building or, depending on response, a four-story, 40,000-square-foot building.

“They could add another floor for the right tenant,” Ahern said.

Construction hasn’t begun yet, but preleasing has.

“Once we have that in place, then the construction will commence,” Glasgow said.

“There’s people looking at it and considering it,” he said. “If we get the right tenant, then they’ll pull the trigger.”

Glasgow said office needs are changing in response to the pandemic.

“This is a building that’s primed to get somebody who may need to . . . adjust their footprint some.”

He and Ahern said the building will benefit from the nearby baseball stadium and all the development happening in the Delano area.

“There’s really been nowhere in town in probably 40 years where you’ve seen that much development in a one-block radius,” Ahern said.

He said access to the river for walking or having lunch is a plus in addition to the new green belt that will be going from this property into Delano.

Even without everything around it, Glasgow said the building itself will be a standout.

“It’ll be a recognizable building for years to come. We don’t have anything else like it.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 2:48 PM.