Search Results: origin story
Plan Commission Rejects Plaza Bowl Height Restrictions, City Council Next Stop
Editor’s note: Despite the Plan Commission recommendation, the Kansas City Council voted unanimously to approve the Plaza Bowl mandatory height restrictions at its meeting Thursday, Feb.14.) By Kevin Collison A proposal to mandate height restrictions on development in the core of the Country Club Plaza, the so-called “Plaza Bowl” plan, was rejected unanimously Tuesday by the…
Embassy Suites Project Underway in Former Federal Reserve Building
By Kevin Collison The redevelopment of the historic Kansas City Federal Reserve building into a 301-room Embassy Suites by Hilton hotel is finally on after a decade of false starts with completion expected in May 2020. The project, which is restoring one of downtown’s last remaining landmark buildings, has a new entity coordinating its construction…
Gatherings Create ‘Community of Reason’ Each Week At UMKC
A major story about religion in America in recent decades has been the decline of various Christian denominations and the rise of the religiously unaffiliated to about 25 percent of the adult population. But for all those decades, a group of people mostly outside of faith traditions has been operating in Kansas City. Just like…
Copaken Brooks Starts Work on Crossroads Apartment Tower
Construction of a 14-story apartment tower called REVERB at 18th and Walnut kicked off Monday, according to a release from Copaken Brooks. The $40 million project, first reported last June by CityScene KC, is expected to be completed in the summer of 2020. Copaken Brooks said local engineering firm Burns & McDonnell will partner to…
Historic 909 Walnut Building in New Hands, Second Spokes Rolling In
By Kevin Collison The historic 909 Walnut apartment building has a new owner, and one of the first changes will be the opening of a second downtown outlet for Spokes in the former Scooters coffee shop space. The 35-story tower at Ninth and Walnut, the tallest residential building in the Midwest outside Chicago, has been…
Holiday Inn Express Opens in Historic Interstate Building
By Kevin Collison The historic Interstate Building at 417 E. 13th St. has reopened as a 73-room Holiday Inn Express, a $9.5 million project that took four years to complete. The seven-story building was built in 1915 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It opened for business last month, according to General…
City Manager Praises Downtown Development Ripple Effect, Says Potential Ballpark Cost Now $800M
By Kevin Collison City Manager Troy Schulte was unapologetic about reinvestment along Troost and the city’s support for luxury downtown residential projects during a wide-ranging talk Wednesday that also included the latest on a potential new ballpark. In a luncheon speech to the Downtowners group, Schulte said the city’s investment in revitalizing downtown over the…
Downtown Rings out 2018 with Surge in Apartments and Hotel Rooms, Promise of New Office
By Kevin Collison Downtown Kansas City ends 2018 on a strong note with new apartment and hotel projects seemingly announced every other week and finally, after much talk, a couple of significant office developments, notably a 25-story project planned for the Power & Light District. It also saw a growing street scene of new retailers,…
Chef Remy Ayesh Launches Lazia, Upscale Italian Restaurant in Crossroads Hotel
By Jill Wendholt Silva, CityScene KC contributor If Remy Ayesh could create a restaurant to reflect her personality and style, it would be a rustic-yet-hip Italian concept with a hip-hop soundtrack. Lucky for her, that concept already was in the works when she landed at The Crossroads Hotel, an upscale Italian steakhouse that opened at…
Big Redevelopment Plan By Barney Allis Plaza Gets Bigger
By Kevin Collison A major redevelopment project that will transform a block bordering Barney Allis Plaza has bumped up its office component by 43 percent, responding to a downtown market that developers believe is ripe for new space. The project planned by Platform Ventures originally called for 70,000 square feet of office, but now has…