Category: Martens Companies

The weekend is here! The team over at Visit Wichita put together this list of 11 Wichita breweries who brew up great beers all year long! The Wichita brewery scene continues to grow and our local brewers are rolling out inventive – and tasty – seasonal offerings in addition to the mainstays that regulars have come to expect. Here’s a flight of holiday beers to try this season at Wichita’s breweries. QUICK LIST Aero Plains Brewing Augustino Brewing Company Bricktown Brewery Central Standard Brewing Hopping Gnome Brewing Company Nortons Brewing Co. PourHouse by…

Transportation to and around Wichita, KS, are two of highest-praised benefits that meeting planners appreciate about holding an event in the southcentral Kansas city. Getting to Wichita We’re right in the middle of the Heartland, making it easy for attendees to get here whether traveling by land or air. We’re at the junctions of I-35 and I-135, and U.S. Highway 81 and U.S. Highway 54/400. Wichita is a three-hour drive southwest of Kansas City, two and a half hours north of Oklahoma City and six hours north of Dallas. The…

Overall Economic Activity The U.S. economy expanded at a slight to modest pace since the prior report as business activity varied across the country. Reports from Districts representing states in the southern and western U.S. generally were more upbeat than Districts representing the Midwest and Great Plains. Household spending was solid on balance: nonauto retail sales increased modestly, while light vehicle sales were generally robust. Tourism and travel-related spending was up modestly. Housing market conditions changed little. On the business spending side, nonresidential construction increased at a slightly slower yet…

Jeff Linsner with Martens Appraisal recently completed work on some raw land in Park City, Kansas. The key to determining the value of raw land is to determine what the highest and best use of the property is. There are many considerations to be made in evaluating the property, but in the end, what the property can be used for is probably the most important factor in determining the value of the property. Our team of qualified appraisers uses their years of experience to lead them to the proper conclusions.…

Kendra Collier recent completed an appraisal report on a proposed restaurant in Maize, Kansas. The restaurant industry has evolved over the past few decades. The local, non-franchised restaurant has been somewhat replaced with trendier, franchised property. Changing restaurant trends have changed the types of buildings used as restaurants, in some cases rendering older restaurant buildings functionally obsolete. Resturant appraisals are more challenging than they were when looking at a more traditional facility. Not all appraisers have the expertise to determine these differences which may materially impact property values. Martens Appraisal…

Jeff Linsner recently completed work on a number of retail/office properties in Eureka, Kansas. The reports were prepared for traditional lending. Determining property values in small towns and more rural regions can be a challenging task for appraisers. The main issue is the availability of information, or in the case of small towns, the lack of information. Martens Appraisal does work across Kansas and has taken steps to make sure we have access to the most accurate and timely data out there. We interview market participants to gather lease information…

Overall Economic ActivityOn balance, reports from Federal Reserve Districts suggested that the economy expanded at a modest pace through the end of August. Although concerns regarding tariffs and trade policy uncertainty continued, the majority of businesses remained optimistic about the near-term outlook. Reports on consumer spending were mixed, although auto sales for most Districts grew at a modest pace. Tourism activity since the previous report remained solid in most reporting Districts. On balance, transportation activity softened, which some reporting Districts attributed to slowing global demand and heightened trade tensions. Home…

The smallest apartment units are doing wonders for developers’ bottom lines, according to a new analysis by CoStar. Source: Smaller Apartments Are Doing Big Things For Developers