Fast-growing travel nursing agency signs lease at Grand Place

A rapidly expanding Kansas City company will build on its Crossroads Arts District roots with one of Downtown’s larger known office leases so far this year.

Next Move Inc., a travel nursing agency that places staff at acute health care facilities throughout the Midwest, signed a lease for approximately 24,000 square feet in 3D Development’s Grand Place remake of The Kansas City Star’s former building at 1729 Grand Blvd.

The agency plans to move from its 9,000-square-foot offices at 1800 Baltimore Ave. to Grand Place by June 1, when its new lease begins. The lease, signed July 29, will run for seven years, through May 2030, with renewal options as many as 10 years.

Founded in 2019, Next Move ballooned from two to 65 internal staff members during the pandemic because of the disparity between clinicians in the market and demands at hospitals and other facilities, CEO John Nolan said.

Next Move doubled its office from one to two floors at 1800 Baltimore Ave. and started searching for an even larger space early this year. Nolan said his team wanted to stay in Kansas City, specifically the Crossroads. Grand Place stood out as the most impressive option.

“We ultimately came to decide that having a space that our employees wanted to come to was really important for us,” Nolan said. “As we place this ‘raving fan’ experience for everybody that engages with our organization, that certainly translates to our internal staff as well.”

Next Move will occupy the first and fourth floors of Grand Place’s east building, which formerly housed The Star’s printing operations. The levels will be connected by an elevator, with room for as many as 145 employees as the company continues hiring this year and into 2023.