Civic Affairs
Sale of The Kansas City Star Press Pavilion for Fraction of 2006 Cost Reflects Declining Newspaper Industry
By Kevin Collison When it opened in 2006, The Kansas City Star Press Pavilion was hailed as a major contribution to the revitalization of downtown and the latest technology in the newspaper industry. The striking 434,000 square-foot building clad in green glass and copper covered two city blocks, rising from four stories along 17th Street…
Mayor James Defends Missouri Historic Tax Credit Program, Says Jeff City: “Doesn’t Like Cities”
Mayor Sly James used the grand opening of the East 9 at Pickwick Plaza redevelopment last week to champion the endangered state historic tax credit program that helped finance the $65 million apartment project. “This wouldn’t have been possible without the historic tax credit program,” the mayor said. “Let’s not say we’ll let our buildings…
Historic Kansas City Star Building Sold, to be Redeveloped as Office Project for 1,200 Workers
By Kevin Collison The Kansas City Star’s historic headquarters building at 1729 Grand Blvd. has been sold to a local developer who wants to redevelop the property as a first-class office project for up to 1,200 workers. On Friday, The Star’s parent company, Sacramento-based McClatchy, announced it had sold the historic property and the 11-year-old…
Downtown Council Office Summit Offers Overview of Potential Projects
By Kevin Collison Call it a SimCity for grownups. Last week’s Downtown Council office summit not only provided expert opinion on where the downtown Kansas City office market may be heading over the next few years, but laid out potential office development sites ranging from the Berkley Riverfront to Washington Square. To summarize, the consensus…
State Task Force Proposes Major Cuts and Restrictions to Historic Tax Credit Program
By Kevin Collison A task force established by Gov. Greitens to examine state tax credit policy has returned with recommendations that preservationists say would substantially cut the historic tax credit program and make it much more difficult to utilize The task force is recommending the historic tax credit program be lumped together with the brownfield…