Leather Elevator Lobbies? Luxury Digs Bring New Settlers to Old Westport

By Kevin Collison

Westley on Broadway, an upscale apartment development so big it prompted a new master plan, has opened, adding hundreds of residents to the evolving, eclectic and sometimes rowdy blend that is Westport.

The 256-unit project on the southeast corner of Westport Road and Broadway quietly began accepting tenants in mid-July and is now more than 20 percent leased, said Devon Coffey, a senior manager for Opus Development Group.

“It appeals to a wide market,” she said. “The demographic ranges from our oldest couple in their early 40s to people in their first apartment out of home.

“We people from Arizona and other parts of the Midwest as well as Coastal transplants.”

And what those new residents will find are an amenity package that includes a 5,800 square-foot patio deck overlooking Westport with a swimming pool, outdoor kitchen and yard game lawn, adjoining a 2,200 square-foot club room.

The rooftop patio at the Westley features a pool, outdoor kitchen and yard for games.

The 1,700 square-foot fitness center includes a large sauna, restrooms and showers, and enough equipment to satisfy any exercise need. There’s also a second club room, The Lookout, on the sixth floor with indoor and outdoor space totaling 1,200 square feet.

As befitting all those amenities, monthly rents are at the upper end of the urban market.

A studio starts at $1,100; the least expensive one-bedroom goes for $1,500, and two-bedrooms start at $2,200. Top rent is $2,800 for a two-bedroom, top-floor corner unit.

There are 35 studios with floor plans ranging from 450- to 550 square-feet; 105 “junior” one-bedrooms ranging from 500- to 700 square-feet; 78 “traditional” one-bedrooms from 725- to 1,000 square-feet, and 38 two-bedrooms from 1,140- to 1,370 square-feet.

Most units have balconies and all feature windows and doors designed to minimize the noise from the street. Each apartment has a washer-dryer, large closets and upgraded appliances.

Secure parking is available in a three-level underground 280-space garage for $95 per month. The garage includes charging spaces for 30 electric vehicles. Elevators from the garage lead directly to resident floors.

This two-bedroom apartment on the fourth floor features views of Westport with sound-insulated windows and doors to dampen the noise.

The Westley also is designed for people who work from their homes, featuring 15,000 square feet of work spaces throughout, all equipped with AV service. There’s even a small studio for making podcasts.

The building also offers a $40 monthly wifi service that handles up to 10 resident devices and allows them to rove seamlessly throughout the building.

Coffey said the name Westley was suggested by a branding firm to link it to Westport and its colorful history as an Old West pioneer launch pad that predates Kansas City. It also gets across what the developer hopes is a comfortable, casual vibe.

“We felt it matched the vibe we hope our community is about, not snooty, but fun.”

The decor was described as authentic Old Westport with a dash of industrial, although one wonders what a pioneer would have thought about the leather-covered walls of the elevator lobbies.

The Westley project also will inject some big new retail retail opportunities to Westport. The first level of the building has a total of 10,000 square feet available for retail including 8,500 square-feet at the corner of Westport Road and Broadway.

The first level of Westley has a total of 10,000 square-feet of retail space available.

The facade of the first level retail was designed to echo the older storefronts across the street in historic core of Westport.

Westley on Broadway may be the last of its size in that immediate stretch of Westport Road and Broadway.

The plan for the six-story building, which replaced an existing Bank of America branch and parking lot, was controversial when it was first rolled out in 2017. It was one of two taller  apartment projects proposed at the time.

In response, City Councilwoman Kathryn Shields, Historic KC and others launched a study that wound up becoming the Westport District Master Plan. The master plan was approved by the City Council last year.

The new master plan limits building heights to three stories on both sides of Westport Road in a several block stretch through the core of Westport.