Civic Affairs
Downtown Council Picks Hall Family for Annual Phil Kirk Award
The Hall family is being recognized by the Downtown Council for its commitment to downtown Kansas City through Hallmark Cards and Crown Center. The Hall family and Hallmark will be receiving the 2017 J. Phillip Kirk Jr. Award at the Downtown Council’s annual luncheon on Jan. 26. The award honors leaders who’s vision and commitment…
Loews Now Majority Owner of Planned Downtown Convention Hotel, Preliminary Construction Expected to Begin Soon
By Kevin Collison New York-based hotel giant Loews has increased its investment stake to become majority owner of the planned 800-room downtown convention hotel and preliminary construction is expected to begin soon. The expanded role of Loews, which owns and operates 24 hotels in major cities across the U.S. and Canada, was approved this week…
Kansas City Star Owner Scraps Deal to Sell Massive Press Pavilion Overlooking Downtown—for Now
By Kevin Collison The owner of The Kansas City Star has decided not to sell the newspaper’s massive green-glass production plant overlooking downtown after all. McClatchy announced in its third quarter earnings report that it had “terminated” a sale-leaseback agreement for the 434,000 square-foot Press Pavilion with an entity called R2 Capital LLC. The distinctive…
Sprint Center Celebrates 10 Years as Downtown Anchor, Result of Bold Mayoral Push with Lessons for KCI Campaign
By Kevin Collison It was a huge gamble when it was first proposed, but 10 years later, the Sprint Center has yielded an equally huge payoff for downtown, drawing 11 million visitors and generating an estimated half-billion dollars in economic benefits to the city. Last week, Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group, the operator of the…
City Takes Another Swing at Eventually Wooing Royals Downtown
By Kevin Collison Downtown baseball is back in the game with the city joining the Downtown Council and developer Jon Copaken in funding a $120,000 study intended to lay the groundwork for a full pitch to the Royals down the road. The Kansas City Star reported this week the ongoing study has identified four sites…