Civic Affairs
Nordstrom Design Breaks Plaza Tradition, Wins Plan Commission Support
By Kevin Collison The Country Club Plaza could have a very contemporary, new west edge where Nichols Road meets Jefferson Street following the endorsement this week of the design proposed for the planned Nordstrom department store. The City Plan Commission unanimously backed the style of the 122,000 square-foot store which was described by the co-owner…
New Plaza Preservation Battle, Developer Plans to Demolish Prominent Church for Apartments
(Editors’s Note: Plans for this project were first posted online by Next Kansas City) By Kevin Collison A plan to demolish a prominent church in the Country Club Plaza and replace it with a 12-story, mixed-use project is unfolding as the latest historic preservation battle over the soul of the venerable district. Legacy Development wants to redevelop…
New VisitKC Exec Anticipates Filling a ‘Saturated’ Downtown Hotel Market
By Kevin Collison The first time Jason Fulvi visited Kansas City 13 years ago, he flew back to Pittsburgh convinced there was no need to ever return. At that time downtown was in the early stages of its current renaissance, the Power & Light District, Sprint Center and Bartle Hall ballroom expansion just starting or…
Troost Developers Deserve Support, Not Criticism
GUEST COMMENTARY By John Hoffman, principal and co-founder of UC-B Properties The recent editorial in The Kansas City Star entitled “Stop the Denverization of Kansas City. Troost doesn’t need to be hipster-friendly” sparked an interest worth responding to by someone who has been developing along Troost for the last 10 years. Whoever was responsible for…
New Downtown Y Called Boost to Growing, Diverse Community
By Kevin Collison For perhaps the first time ever, downtown will be home to a high school swim team, one of many community-building opportunities cited last week at the kickoff event for the new YMCA at the Lyric Theater. The beginning of a civic endeavor that began in 2011 when YMCA executive David Byrd, fresh…