CitySceneKC
Gordon Biersch Pulls Plug on Downtown Power & Light Location
One of the downtown Power & Light District’s original tenants, Gordon Biersch brewery and restaurant, is closing after anchoring a strategic corner at 14th and Walnut since 2008. In a release, company officials described the departure as a “natural end at this location. “We have enjoyed being a part of the renaissance of downtown Kansas…
Kemper Arena Developer Receives State Historic Tax Credits, Last Hurdle Before Beginning Mosaic Arena Project
By Kevin Collison The $39 million redevelopment of the former Kemper Arena into an amateur sports and fitness complex that’s expected to draw a half million out-of-town visitors yearly to the West Bottoms has cleared its last financial hurdle. Developer Steve Foutch of Foutch Brothers LLC expects to begin work within two weeks on his…
City Teaming with KCP&L to Provide Free On-Street Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Downtown
Three new on-street charging stations for electric vehicles are coming online in downtown, an expansion of a program sponsored by Kansas City Power & Light. The first station is operational at the East 9 at Pickwick Plaza apartment development at 933 McGee St. and the other two in the Crossroads District at Broadway and Southwest…
Omaha Postcard
By Kevin Collison Port KC rolled out its sketchy concept for the Berkley Riverfront a few weeks ago, but if anyone wants to see a farsighted vision realized, they should drive three hours up I-29 to Omaha. First off, Kansas City and Omaha share a very similar relationship with the Missouri River. Both towns started…
Downtown Kansas City Traffic Snarls Ahead with Two Major Bridges Closed
By Kevin Collison While concerns over closing the Buck O’Neil Bridge has been center stage in recent months, Kansas is moving forward with a project that will shut down a second major downtown bridge for two years, the westbound Lewis & Clark Viaduct. And there’s a good chance both bridges, which carry a combined 62,000…
Sale of The Kansas City Star Press Pavilion for Fraction of 2006 Cost Reflects Declining Newspaper Industry
By Kevin Collison When it opened in 2006, The Kansas City Star Press Pavilion was hailed as a major contribution to the revitalization of downtown and the latest technology in the newspaper industry. The striking 434,000 square-foot building clad in green glass and copper covered two city blocks, rising from four stories along 17th Street…
Hyundai Uses Downtown Kansas City Skyline in National Commercial–Sort of
In a weird mash-up, Hyundai is using the Kansas City skyline, with a few more buildings thrown in for good measure, in a national television commercial for its Sonata model. The spot opens with heavy freeway traffic in the foreground but there’s no mistaking the core downtown skyline in the background: One Kansas City Place,…
Mayor James Defends Missouri Historic Tax Credit Program, Says Jeff City: “Doesn’t Like Cities”
Mayor Sly James used the grand opening of the East 9 at Pickwick Plaza redevelopment last week to champion the endangered state historic tax credit program that helped finance the $65 million apartment project. “This wouldn’t have been possible without the historic tax credit program,” the mayor said. “Let’s not say we’ll let our buildings…
Ruby Jean’s Juicery Opens Shop at Town Pavilion on Downtown Streetcar Line
By Kevin Collison For Chris Goode, his Ruby Jean’s Juicery shops are a labor of love. “It’s named after my late grandmother,” he said. “Ruby Jean died at age 61 from Type 2 Diabetes. I was 14 at the time, it was the first time I experienced death, and I was very close to her….
Historic Hotel Bray in Downtown Kansas City to be Redeveloped as Apartments
By Kevin Collison A slender downtown architectural beauty, the historic former Hotel Bray at 1114 Baltimore Ave., is being redeveloped as an apartment project by developer John Bennett Jr. The nine-story building is 25-feet wide and 125 feet deep, and is wedged between the Hotel Phillips and the Italian Garden garage on Baltimore. Bennett plans…