News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Swiss Re Bringing 400 Jobs to Downtown Kansas City, Relocating from Overland Park
By Kevin Collison Swiss Re, a global reinsurance firm based in Switzerland, is relocating its Overland Park office to downtown Kansas City, a move that will bring 400 jobs. Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens announced the move Wednesday, which follows a visit by the governor to the firm’s headquarters in Zurich. The firm will be moving…
Appetite for Downtown Living Continues, Newly Redeveloped 915 Broadway Project Nearly Full
By Kevin Collison The 915 Broadway project, a $10.5 million redevelopment of two historic buildings in the Garment District of downtown, is close to fully leased five months after it opened in June. The 44-unit development, which combined two buildings at 911 and 915 Broadway, has four one-bedroom apartments remaining, according to its manager Erica…
Contributing to the Corps | Adding It Up
In Kansas City, we’re told the economic impact of the arts totals a quarter of a billion dollars. This four-part video series, Artconomy, evaluates what that number means: Where does that figure come from, and what’s counted in it? In Episode 2, we’re about the performer… and the patron. See if you’re surprised by how much…
Developer Plans to Renovate “Abandoned Fortress” Building into Apartments
By Kevin Collison A vacant, dilapidated brick building at 27th and Madison that was built in 1920 as a power substation is slated to re-energized as a 10-unit apartment building. “It struck our eyes as being a catalyst to revitalizing that neighborhood and continue Kansas City’s overall revitalization of the urban core and downtown area,”…
Zahner Creates ‘Wild’ New Work Space as Part of $5 Million Downtown Expansion
By Kevin Collison A. Zahner Co., a world-renowned, architectural metal fabrication firm, is practicing its creativity on its $5 million expansion project at its downtown headquarters and manufacturing facility at Eighth and The Paseo. In what appears to be giant organic cones straight out of science fiction, the firm is creating 7,000 square feet of…
Two New Residential Projects in the Works for Paseo Gateway Area on Downtown’s Northeast Edge
By Kevin Collison Construction on two residential projects, a 57-unit apartment development and 22 townhouses, is scheduled to begin next month in The Paseo Gateway redevelopment area on the northeast edge of downtown. The $12.9 million Quinlan Place apartment project and $5.1 million Quinlan Row townhouses project were endorsed by the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority…
Pickleball For All: The Cross-Generational Power Of Play
It’s a bright fall morning in Santa Cruz County, Calif., and the tennis area at Brommer Street Park is overrun with dozens of people. But they aren’t here for tennis. Instead, cadences of pick-pock sounds fill the air as doubles players — many in their 50s and older — whack yellow Wiffle-like balls back and…
Developer Considering New Apartment Project Across from River Market Streetcar Station
By Kevin Collison (Updated Oct. 19 from previous CityScene article with preliminary rendering of proposed seven-story, 87-unit apartment project. First posted on Next Kansas City) The developers of the recently opened Centropolis on Grand apartment project in the River Market are now considering a second apartment development a block away next to the streetcar station…
ClusterTruck Promises Fresher, Faster Online Downtown Meal Delivery Service from New River Market Location
By Kevin Collison (Editors note: The Kansas City ClusterTruck location opened in late December) ClusterTruck, an online meal delivery service that rolled out in downtown Indianapolis two years ago, is opening a new kitchen in the River Market later this year. The business plans to compete successfully with the likes of other online food delivery…
Downtown’s School, Crossroads Academy, Named Top Charter School in Missouri
Crossroads Academy, founded five years ago to be downtown’s school and a place where students utilize the city as their outside classroom, has been named the best charter school in Missouri for 2017. The Missouri Charter Public School Association named Crossroads its Charter School of the Year. The organization represents 68 charter schools across the…