News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Restored Savoy Grill is Centerpiece of New 21c Museum Hotel
By Kevin Collison First off, breathe easy Kansas City history buffs. The inner sanctum of the Savoy Grill, that 1903 time-capsule of dark oak woodwork, terrazzo floor, Old West murals and Harry Truman’s “Booth No. 4,” returns when the $47.5 million renovation of the Savoy Hotel is completed this summer. Yes, the adjoining dining room—a…
NourishKC Celebrates Serving Millionth Meal to the Homeless
By Kevin Collison Eight years after opening in new space at Eighth and The Paseo, NourishKC celebrated serving its millionth meal to the homeless people of downtown. Mayor Sly James recognized their charitable work at an event this week, but also used the occasion to call out the broader issue of homelessness and growing economic…
Historic West Bottoms on Stage This Week
By Kim Mueller Put on your hiking shoes, and rediscover the West Bottoms as city leaders celebrate its past and envision its future in several walking, biking, boating and busing tours beginning Thursday. Kansas City Historic Preservation Officer and Editor Brad Wolfe will lead a tour of the West Bottoms Tuesday, May 1, including several…
Sky’s the Limit at Two Light When it Comes to Amenities—and Rents.
By Kim Mueller Two Light, the new Cordish luxury apartment tower, is scheduled to open May 4 with half its 296 units already leased. A public grand opening of the 24-floor tower at 1444 Grand is expected the end of May, said spokeswoman Jen DeMeyer. The new tower, the second of four planned high-rises in the…
J. Rieger Pursuing Ambitious ‘Electric Park’ Project in East Bottoms
By Kevin Collison The co-founder of Jacob Rieger & Co. distillery is pursuing a visionary concept to renovate the historic Heim Brewery Building in the East Bottoms as a catalyst to re-energize the old Electric Park area. The $11.3 million redevelopment proposal being pursued by Andy Rieger tentatively calls for the brick building at 507…
‘We Know That There Are Some Choices That Are Better’
In advance of Earth Day, we hear from Elizabeth Kolbert, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History.” Kolbert warns in her book that unless we change habits soon, the Earth and climate will reach an irreversible point, creating conditions unsuitable for organic life on Earth and starting the sixth extinction. Although grim this tale…
Developer Plans to Convert Former Auto Row Building on McGee Into Offices
By Kevin Collison A developer is planning to convert one of the East Crossroads buildings along McGee Street that comprise the historic auto row district into an office building. Andrew Brain of Brain Group development plans invest up to $12 million to covert the 100 year-old building at 1824-32 McGee into office space. “We have…
Kansas’ Important Place in Black History
Today, Kansas is known as a deeply conservative state, but a historian reminded a Kansas City audience that the state actually has a long history of racial progressivism dating back even before its statehood. “There is no other state beyond Kansas whose history is so intertwined with the idea of African-American freedom, African-American liberation,” said…
Innovative Second and Delaware Apartment Project Expects to Resume Work this Summer
(Updated Aug. 16) Jonathan Arnold, the developer of Second and Delaware, told the PIEA board construction is expected to resume in September with completion expected in mid-2020. Rising labor and material costs have pumped up the overall project cost to $71 million. Arnold said the development still is expected to be the world’s largest “passive house…
Latest Grinders Break-in Alarms East Crossroads Community
By Kevin Collison STRETCH is ticked after yet another break-in at his iconic East Crossroads food joint, Grinders Pizza. “This is the 11th time Grinder’s has been broken into,” the sculptor, restauranteur and impresario said of his place that opened in 2004. “It’s frustrating. They’ve never caught anybody.” This time, he wasn’t alone when someone…