‘Invest with women we know’: This $1.4M wellness hub project is redeveloping one neighborhood from within

Sheryl Vickers, Select Sites, WIRED, outside the future home of CURATED. in Prairie Village; photo by Joyce Smith

It's an old real estate adage: "Buy the worst house in the best neighborhood." Longtime Kansas City commercial broker Sheryl Vickers said it also applies to business properties, "one thousand percent." Like twin mid-century office buildings just over the Missouri/Kansas state line in Prairie Village.

"I drove by it, what a sad state," said Vickers, president of Select Sites. "The coolest property with cool lines but not being maintained. It looked unloved. And we are trained—that is a transaction to be done."

Now, six months after Vickers and other investors purchased and started rehabbing the buildings, they plan to reopen the space this spring as CURATED.—a one-stop wellness hub, curated with the "best and brightest" in health, beauty and wellness.

(The article includes renderings and interior photos of the future CURATED. space in Prairie Village.)

The Prairie Village resident had long looked for an investment site in her city but said most of the properties had already been redeveloped. When she saw a "for lease" sign on the buildings—2108 to 2110 W. 75th St.—she started negotiations, not to lease but to buy the properties.

Vickers partnered with 21 members of Women in Real Estate Development (WIRED), a resource and mentoring group for commercial investments that Vickers co-founded.

From the archives: WIRED together: How mentorship led 22 women to a million-dollar investment.

The women bought the buildings in August for $900,000 and are investing $500,000 to refurbish them. The investors include an architect, a construction manager, a property manager, and a broker. Half are Prairie Village moms, buying and owning property in their own community.

"Communities should be developing their own neighborhoods," Vickers said. "We are a very tight group and we like to invest with women we know. Women are jazzed up to buy stuff."

Sheryl Vickers, Select Sites, WIRED, outside the future home of CURATED. in Prairie Village; photo by Joyce Smith

A 1958 ad in The Kansas City Star referred to the buildings as "attractive new buildings" in a convenient south location with excellent parking.

But by 2024, they were in disrepair. Their most recent tenants were on month-to-month leases.

The bland cream-colored exterior was peeling. Vickers replaced it with a classic tarragon blue accented by wood trim and installed new doors, windows, and LED lighting.

Old carpeting inside has been replaced with laminate plank wood flooring, and the walls have been painted a soft white.

Several existing wellness businesses—including massage therapy providers (offering Swedish, deep tissue, shiatsu, myotherapy, and other services)—will remain as legacy tenants, paying higher rents than before but lower rents than new tenants. Vickers expects their revenues to increase under the CURATED. concept.

Rent for spaces will range from $800 to $2,800 per month, depending on square footage. Suites range from 250 to 1,000 square feet. A micro-market will offer healthy snacks and feature a patio.

"I want to make an impact on a neighborhood but I also want to make a good return for my partners," she said.