New Fidelity Security HQ Project Seeking $9M Tax Break

By Kevin Collison

The developer of a proposed office tower at 27th and Main anticipates its request for a $9 million incentive package for the new headquarters of Fidelity Security Life Insurance will be in front of the City Council in mid-November.

Attorney David Frantze said VanTrust Real estate, the developer, will be seeking a 15-year reduction of its future property taxes and a sales tax exemption on construction materials to help finance the $79 million project.

The 14-story tower is proposed for a 2.7-acre site within the Crown Center Redevelopment campus and would be located near a planned streetcar stop. The last office building to be developed at Crown Center was the 24-story Shook Hardy tower at 2555 Grand in 2003.

Frantze confirmed that Fidelity Security Life would be the main tenant, occupying about 100,000 square feet of the 155,000 square-foot building. Fidelity is currently located at 3130 Broadway.

Frantze said the project could have qualified for the Lucas amendment limiting property tax reductions to 75 percent/10 years and 37.5 percent/15, but is seeking the new limit set by the Council earlier this year, 70 percent/10 years and 30 percent/five years.

The 2.7 acre site of the proposed office tower was listed for sale by Crown Center Redevelopment three years ago. (Map from EDC application)

The attorney said the property currently generates about $100,000 annually in property tax revenues for taxing jurisdictions including the school district and library.

Even with the $7.6 million future property tax reduction or abatement, the development is expected to generate $17.5 million in additional tax revenues over the next 25 years, according to a private consultant hired by the city.

If the development plan is approved by the Council, construction would likely begin in early Fall 2022 with completion in 22 months.

An application with the Kansas City Economic Development Corp. states Pei Cobb Freed, a renowned national firm, as the design architect for the project and local firm BNIM as the architect of record. HOK is listed as the tenant architect.

Henry Cobb, a founding partner at Pei Cobb, designed 2600 Grand, a 14-story office tower that opened on the Crown Center campus in 1990. He also designed the nearby Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City headquarters that opened in 2008.