Health Forward, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building inclusive, powerful and health communities by prioritizing people who experience the greatest injustices in health outcomes, recently announced plans to move its headquarters from the Crown Center area to the Offices on Overlook on the east side of Kansas City, MO.
In a strategic condominium ownership agreement, Health Forward, will acquire ownership and occupy the 20,000 sq. ft. top floor of the Offices at Overlook — a $30 million, 60,000 sq. ft., Class A commercial building being constructed on the corner of Chestnut Ave. and MLK Blvd.
The Office of Overlook is the first phase of the 11-acre Overlook Development being constructed by Community Builders of Kansas City (CBKC), a Missouri nonprofit and the largest community development corporation in the region. The development will include additional offices, four mixed-use buildings, apartments, a health fitness trail, and a public plaza.
“It was important to Health Forward, as we determined a permanent location for the foundation, that we invest in the economic vibrancy that exists among our prioritized communities of focus. “We are proud to partner with Community Builders of Kansas City, who has long anchored development on Kansas City’s east side, to help contribute to the resurgence and redevelopment of the 64130 ZIP code,” said Qiana Thomason, Health Forward President/CEO.
“For many years, there has been disinvestment in 64130 and while the area is classified as blighted, the blight does not reflect the power, the cultural wealth, the legacy, the resiliency, and the resourcefulness of the people who live there and in the surrounding ZIP codes. We want to help restore, revitalize, and rejuvenate this community by being an economic anchor and investor with Community Builders.”
This move brings the foundation closer to the communities it serves, something the founding board members took very seriously. Health Forward’s initial office was in the Pioneer Campus of the Penn Valley Community College on 18th and Prospect Ave. They moved from that location after the KIPP KC charter school expanded into the top floor of the shared building. Since then, Health Forward has been temporarily leasing space at 2300 Main.
“This location provides Health Forward the opportunity to further serve the community with our assets while also allowing for growth for the foundation,” said Irene Caudillo, Health Forward Board Chair.
Demolition and site clearing began in spring 2022. Construction on the Offices at Overlook is slated to begin by the end of the year with an anticipated 2025 completion date.
About Health Forward
Health Forward was formed after the 2003 sale of Health Midwest, a nonprofit healthcare provider serving areas in Kansas and Missouri. With 80% of the proceeds – amounting to $400.5 million – from the sale, then-Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon established the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. HCF began making grants in 2005, and each year awarded $20 million to grantees and community partners in their six-county service area in Kansas and Missouri. In November 2018, Health Care Foundation changed its name to Health Forward Foundation. During Health Forward’s 15-year virtual anniversary celebration, CEO Qiana Thomason announced a new vision for Health Forward that addresses health equity through economic inclusion and racial justice.