Yahoo Finance Longtime Crown Heights building changes hands and is about to get a major facelift
The first time Citizens Bank of Kansas established an executive office in 2014, it was at a building a dentist owned near 119th and Maple.
Now, the bank is moving to a new headquarters in Crown Heights where a dentist was most recently in a building that once was configured into something of a duplex for two dentists.
And the entity that owns the bank buildings, RCF Investments, is selling its west-side building to — you guessed it — a dentist.
RCF Investments is owned by bank Chairman Jane Deterding; her husband, Brent Lehner; and her brother-in-law, bank CEO Mark Keeny.
RCF doesn’t have any kind of prerequisite for doing real estate deals with dentists only. Deterding said it just happened to be that dentist Ranjit Ghanta of Maple Park Dentistry, who has been a Citizens tenant at 415 S. 119th St. West, was ready to buy the building.
At the same time, dentist Tom Lahey was ready to sell his building at Douglas and Glendale. That happens to be across Glendale from the Citizens branch in Crown Heights, which is across from Il Vicino and just east of Douglas and Oliver in College Hill.
“We like to think we straddle the two,” Deterding said of the popular neighborhoods.
Citizens is moving the entrance to the south side of the building, which has had a Glendale address but now will be 4926 E. Douglas.
“It will have a very nice mid-century modern feel in keeping with the neighborhood,” Deterding said.
She said the blond brick and limestone building “will have a very nice feature outside that — I’ll just leave it at that so people can drive by when it’s done.”
Any hints?
“It will be a nice architectural feature designed by Chad Glenn at 3ten architects. It’s going to look cool inside and out.”
The remodeling should be done by September.
Deterding and Keeny worked out of separate bank branches years ago but decided it made more sense for strategic planning to be together.
For Deterding, that often was the Crown Heights branch, and she said she’s excited to be able to see some of her old friends more regularly along with some of her favorite restaurants, like Watermark Books & Cafe.
“My gosh, tomato bisque.”
At the new building, there are some killer almost floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the bank. So who gets them: Deterding or Keeny?
“Great question,” Deterding said. “Each of us will get a set of killer windows.”
Farha Construction is the contractor on the project.
There’s a Citizens staff competition to name the new office.
“The Office, like the show,” is one, Deterding said.
There’s also the Brain HQ, and Lehner favors the Cloisters.
“We’ve gotten some interesting ideas,” Deterding said. “No final determination.”
Over near Maple and 119th, Ghanta has been neighbors and leasing from Citizens since late 2021.
“They’ve been nothing but stellar.”
In 2021, Ghanta bought dentist Warren Rensner’s practice, and Rensner stayed on. Previously, Rensner sold the building to Citizens and leased back space.
“As a business owner, it’s always important to have control of your space,” Ghanta said. “Rather than paying rent, it makes sense to pay a mortgage and have a little equity in your building.”
He has 3,500 square feet in the building and has almost 2,000 to lease to another business.
“It’s just a very nice area, especially for a professional like an accountant or a lawyer,” Ghanta said.
“It is a beautiful space overlooking a beautiful lake,” he said. “You can’t beat the views outside of the building.”
