Developers Envision Possible High-Rise Project on Broadway

By Kevin Collison

A development group has acquired a 3.2-acre site on Broadway across from the Kauffman Center, including the former Denny’s site, and is contemplating a mixed-use project that could include a high-rise building.

GDC Financial along with B16 Capital and EPC Real Estate Group has assembled a roughly two-block stretch of properties on the west side of Broadway from the I-35 off-ramp to next to Los Tules restaurant at 1656 Broadway.

“We’re so early in this, there’s not a lot to report,” said Austin Bradley, EPC executive vice president. “What we like about the properties is it’s your front door to downtown, the visibility is fabulous.

“It has unmatched views and there’s an opportunity to do something iconic.”

The two-block stretch of properties extend along Broadway north of the Los Tules restaurant at 1656 Broadway to the I-35 exit ramp.

The first hurdle to deciding what development could occur is finding out what height would be acceptable to the Federal Aviation Administration. The location is near the Charles Wheeler Downtown Airport flight path.

Bradley said the development group has submitted an application to the FAA that lists a potential building up to 500 feet tall, roughly the equivalent of the historic Kansas City Power & Light Building at 476 feet.

“Once we understand our limitations with the FAA, we can design a project for the site,” he said. “We’re not saying it’s going to be that tall, we want to know the parameters.”

The development group is envisioning a dense, mixed-use project that could include retail, office, residential and hotel uses.

“We want something that would be iconic to the city and complements our neighbors,” Bradley said.

The building at 1616 Broadway housing Quixotic is among the properties assembled in the development site.

The real estate acquired by the development group include land formerly controlled by Copaken Brooks, which had envisioned a potential 500,000 square-foot office development at the site.

The properties also include the Quixotic entertainment troupe’s office and studio facility at 1616 Broadway. The Denny’s was closed in late 2020 and demolished.

While the GDC Financial development group has no timetable yet for its plan, Bradley said the land already is properly zoned and he and his partners are serious about moving forward.

“I think we have a real project,” he said. “We have the real estate and want to do a project there.”