Small Biz to Watch: Yates & Yates builds from dirt through a sale (with stability, not just dollars in mind)

Watching Kansas City become more than its past is exciting, Nicole Yates said. Participating in that growth is even better, the co-founder of Yates & Yates Co. continued.

“There is so much investment,” she explained. “And there are so many people that are really trying to build something that matters, and I’m just grateful that we get to play a little part of that.”

The Lucas Place project at 323 W 8th St, Kansas City; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Five years after launching the business with her mother, Denise Yates, Yates & Yates — a multi-family industry consulting firm with expertise in management, development, marketing, and design — is hitting its stride. The venture is landing major real estate development projects like The Lanes at Mission Bowl, Residences at Lexington, and Grand Station Lofts, plus overseeing about 2,000 units with above 95 percent occupancy.

“It’s been such a milestone year for us because we are results-driven at all of our assets,” Nicole said. “We have 13 properties today, and they are all performing well, and that feels really good.”

“Coming up on our five-year milestone,” she continued, “We have stability as a company — small, boutique, and local — and we have consistency. With those two, it’s allowed for our staffing to grow.”

The firm now has 28 employees and five projects under development, in all different stages, the duo shared.

“We have two or three partners in alignment,” Denise explained. “We work together to bring the next job, and the next job, and the next project coming out.”

The Grand Station Lofts project at 8707 Shawnee Mission Pkwy; courtesy photo

Headquartered in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, but with properties across the metro from Lee’s Summit to Desoto, Yates & Yates specializes in property and asset management and development, offering around 20 services — like design, budgeting, proformas, team building, policies and procedures — that can be customized and chosen “a la carte” or bundled.

“Our wheelhouse is new construction,” Nicole said. “We specialize in dirt through sale, so we’ve been a part of all of that process. We can really help people find success in areas that they don’t have the experience or the right team in place for.”

“Sometimes even large companies have a full team,” Denise added. “But they’re missing one position that’s an important piece to achieve their goal.”

After they started offering a la carte services, Nicole noted, she noticed other companies following suit.

“They see it’s working,” she continued. “But we were the first ones that really put out that platform. We can customize the needs of this project or this partner specifically.”

Nicole Yates and Denise Yates, Yates & Yates; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

The mother-daughter duo launched their company in 2021 after working in the management consulting business for more than 40 years and almost a decade, respectively.

“We got to a point at a previous company that we worked for where we had reached the ceiling, and there was nowhere else to go,” Denise explained. “We’re passionate about this business. At that point, we were doing exactly what we’re doing now, but we were doing it for other people. So we decided to jump off the cliff and start Yates & Yates.”

“We really are yin and yang,” Nicole added, noting the benefits of their complementary skill sets. “What we are both good at is completely different, but we have similar mannerisms. Being a family-owned business and mom-daughter, we’ve found a really good rhythm to make it work.”

With their expertise in the industry, the co-founders said they are selective of where and with whom they invest their time.

“That goes back to our core values (passion, transparency, integrity, and respect) and how we choose to do business,” Denise explained. “We’re not looking to grow and be a large management company or developer. We would love to have our top five partners that we are in alignment with and do business with and enjoy working with, because we also want our employees to enjoy going to work. So we really are intentional about where we’re putting our people.”

“I think a lot of companies will just take new business to grow and that’s something that sets us apart,” Nicole added.

The Residences at Lexington project in De Soto, Kansas; courtesy photo

The pair doesn’t take on a project until they understand it, know how to implement it, and have a plan to drive success to it, she continued.

“Some people are like, ‘Why wouldn’t you take that job? You shouldn’t turn jobs down,’” Nicole said. “Of course, we all want to make money, but we’re not in it to just get more jobs. We want to be purpose-driven.”

Transparency is also key for Yates & Yates, even if it’s not what the partner might want to hear, she said. Often, that means being realistic instead of optimistic, which can be a rarity in their industry, she noted.

“Sometimes it rubs people the wrong way when we tell them something doesn’t work,” Nicole said. “If we are going to be a part of a project and stand behind it, we want to make sure that we’re setting everyone up for success.”

Yates & Yates’ momentum hasn’t come easily, or without experiencing loss, she added.

“We’ve gone through massive challenges in starting the company,” Nicole said. “Some of the moments that feel like they could have or were meant to break you — were the ones that really made us strong and now stable.”

Such stability has put the duo in a new position: They’re in the process of buying several properties as sole owners — not just partners in the projects. They’re also launching a multi-family marketing firm, she continued.

“That’s a big jump for us,” Nicole said.“We will focus on implementing and investing in Yates & Yates Co. first,” she explained. “And once that’s stabilized and established, then we’ll open it up to other partners.”