More than four years ago, the Church of the Nazarene began development of a new headquarters building designed to consolidate its officers and employees and provide a new and more efficient replacement for its 13-acre campus on the east side of Kansas City, Missouri.

In 2006, Zimmer was selected by the Church to serve as project manager for the development of its new Global Ministry Center. The 110,000 square-foot, two-story office building, technology and visitors center sits on a campus site of more than 30 acres in Lenexa, Kansas. Zimmer's Development Management team assembled the design and construction team and provided management of the project budget and schedule, provided technical consulting and assisted in the procurement and oversight of the move management services. As the development of the project neared completion, Zimmer's Property & Facilities Management group was retained to complete Systems Training and Documentation services with the prime contractor, Walton Construction, and on-site maintenance staff with a facility manual that addressed the essentials in operating the building's mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. After completing the manual, the team was retained to provide property management services to the Global Ministry Center, including budgeting, management of vendor contracts, construction warranty administration, site security and emergency preparedness.

Also during the development phase, the Church turned to Zimmer for brokerage services in the marketing and sale of its 50-year-old former headquarters.

"I knew it was a different kind of assignment," said Zimmer Vice President Debora Field, who handled the sale of the campus. "It was a long time between when we first listed the property and eventually sold it to the Kauffman Foundation last month. And it when I say different, I'm not saying there was no activity. There was a lot going on. There were many groups interested, but all of those groups had to carefully examine the property and gather information to see if they could really utilize it since most were redevelopments with alternate uses. We ran a major campaign targeting all of the people and groups we thought might be a fit and many came forward."

While there were many interested parties, none seemed to be the right fit, whether due to the economics of the past three years or the location of the property on Kansas City's east side. Field and the Church, specifically its treasurer and financial officer Dr. Marilyn McCool remained hopeful it would find an interested suitor who would maintain the property's legacy as a contributor to the local urban community.

"We really did become a team with the Nazarene leadership over the course of these four years," Field said. "There was a lot of work to do to keep the property maintained for presentation to prospects and that came with a lot of tough decisions. But we all worked together and maintained our vision for the outcome we intended."

Eventually, on June 6 the Church closed on its sale to the locally-based not-for-profit icon, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Foundation will use the campus for a charter school and plans to instruct more than 1,000 middle and high school students by 2018. Classes won't start at the new site until the 2013-2014 school year.