CitySceneKC
KC Barbell Beefs Up Size at New Location Near Crown Center
By Kevin Collison As soon as the city gives the all clear from Covid-19 health restrictions, Jay Ashman and his partners are ready to teach people how to pump iron at their new digs at 2734 McGee Trafficway just south of Crown Center. The new home of Kansas City Barbell is twice the size of…
Port KC Approves $60M Riverfront Apartment Plan, Summer Work Start
(Aug. 12 Editor’s note: Construction began July 21) By Kevin Collison NorthPoint Development plans to break ground on a 353-unit apartment complex near Berkley Riverfront Park this summer after the Port KC board unanimously approved incentives for the project Monday. The $60 million project, which was first announced in October, will substantially increase the growing…
Don Bosco Center Reopening in June Following $3.7M Renovation
By Kevin Collison The Don Bosco Center, a social and cultural anchor for the Columbus Park neighborhood of greater downtown since 1940, is nearing completion of a $3.7 million renovation. The 13,00 square-foot facility at 526 Campbell has evolved with its neighborhood, once the home of Kansas City’s Italian-American community. It, along with the other…
Big Apartment Project Proposed Near Plaza at 48th and Belleview
(Updated July 7, 2020. The developer of the proposed Dylan apartment project, Action Pact Design Group, has gone out of contract for the property and the development site is back on the market for sale. Mike Napovanice of Orion Property Group said interest has been expressed by several potential buyers, all of whom would continue…
Webster House Closing, but Helzberg has No Plans to Walk Away
By Kevin Collison Faced with a pandemic shut-down and the likelihood its important patron, the Kauffman Center, may remain dark until at least fall, Shirley Helzberg had no choice but to close her labor of love, the Webster House, permanently. “The Kauffman Center isn’t opening until at least fall and the symphony and other arts…
Crossroads Community Kitchen aka The Rieger Serves Big Helpings
By Kevin Collison There has been a lot of generous community response to the Covid-19 pandemic locally, but it would be hard to top the The Regier when it comes to an industrial-strength outpouring of good will–and free food. Since mid-March, the fine dining restaurant at 1924 Main has transformed itself into the Crossroads Community…
New Chapter Planned for Historic River Market Water Building
By Kevin Collison The historic Water Building in the River Market is slated for another round of renovation after a previous revival went bust in 2013. Developer Chris Sally has a contract to purchase the brick building at the corner of Second and Main streets. It was built in 1905 to house the stable, warehouse…
Proposed Freight House District Apartment Project Backtracks Size
(Updated May 7: The developer of the planned Tracks 215 apartment deal lost his national partner this week but did obtain local tax incentives in his quest to build the $52.4 million project in the Freight House District. Vince Bryant of 3-D development told the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority board today that Greystar, a major…
City Council Narrowly Approves Waddell HQ Design Despite Objections by Neighborhood, City Planners
(Updated: Citing the late Kenny Rogers tune “The Gambler,” Mayor Quinton Lucas cast the deciding vote in a 7-6 City Council decision to approve the design and development plan of the Waddell & Reed headquarters project late Thursday afternoon. With several Council members expressing disapproval of the controversial design during deliberations and seeking to send…
Downtown Marriott Goes Dark, Metro’s Biggest Covid Hospitality Casualty
By Kevin Collison Metro Kansas City’s largest hotel, the 970-room Downtown Marriott, has gone dark until at least May 11 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the biggest local casualty of the collapse in the national hospitality industry caused by the virus. The 22-story hotel, known for the vivid LED lighting displays splashed across its broad…