| Downtown Kansas City | |
|---|---|
| A portion of the downtown Kansas City skyline | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Missouri |
| Counties | Jackson County |
| City | Kansas City |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3 sq mi (7.77 km2) |
| • Land | 3 sq mi (7.77 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) 0% |
| Elevation | 800 ft (244 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 22,576 |
| • Density | 7,522.3/sq mi (2,904.4/km2) |
| ZIP code | 64101, 64102, 64105, 64106, 64108, and 64109 |
| Area code(s) | 816 |
| Website | http://www.downtownkc.org |
Downtown Kansas City is the central business district (CBD) of Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. It is located between the Missouri River in the north, to 31st Street in the south; and from the Kansas–Missouri state line east to Troost Avenue as defined by officials of the Kansas City, Missouri Downtown Council and City Hall.
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As of 2010, Downtown has 22,576 permanent residents and 11,500 housing units.[1] In 2000, the population may have been as low as 10,000 people with 7,330 units. There are currently 2,649 housing units planned for construction in Downtown.[2] In 2005, Downtown Kansas City had a density of approximately 5,617 inhabitants per square mile (2,169 /km2) in its 3.0-square-mile (7.8 km2) area. According to Local Market reports, Downtown houses approximately 20,000,000 square feet (1,900,000 m2) of office space. However, the vacancy of this space is at about 15%. There are also about 12,800,000 square feet (1,190,000 m2) of Class A&B office space in Downtown, with a vacancy rate of 15.9%.[3] There are over 100,000 employees working in the Downtown area. Downtown has a total of 5,606 hotel rooms or 22.5% of the total amount of hotel rooms in the metropolitan area. The average occupancy of these rooms is about 56.5%. Currently about 2,800,000 square feet (260,000 m2) of office space are under construction in Downtown Kansas City.Current investments into downtown redevelopment have exceeded $6 billion.[4]
Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park
In recent years, Downtown Kansas City has been undergoing a massive "boom" in renovations and new construction. Since 2000, the estimated cost of these projects has totaled over $5.5 billion.
The Power & Light District, also known as the "Entertainment District", is a nine-block area immediately to the south of the Central Business District. Originally to be named "Kansas City Live", the developer - Cordish, Inc. of Baltimore, Maryland - decided to name the district after the historic art deco Power & Light Building. The present headquarters of the Kansas City Power & Light Company, a subsidiary of Great Plains Energy (NYSE: GXP), is also located on the northern side of the district. Instead, a one-block area near the new H&R Block headquarters tower—devoted to live music venues—will be named Kansas City Live!.
Since the summer of 2006, the H&R Block building has been open for business. Its prominent oval shape, mixed with blue-green reflective glass, makes for an architectural transition between the Central Business District's skyscrapers and the south loop's older buildings. This ties together a theme of new, glass-walled buildings in the area, also including the Sprint Center and the Kansas City Star printing press across I-670.
As well, Cordish plans to build four residential towers in the project. Among the plans are a 38-floor 350-unit residential tower which may include a boutique hotel. The site lays immediately north of the H&R Block headquarters on a lot once occupied by the flagship store of the Jones Store Company. In March 2006, the ground was leveled and dug out.
Construction is evident when driving across I-670, as the new Entertainment District practically shares a border with the Interstate. Soon the view will be blocked by the above mentioned residential towers. Enclosed between the residential towers and H&R Block's new Building will be many shops and restaurants, new to the Kansas City area. City leaders hope that the new District will be a major attraction for Kansas City-area residents and visitors to the area, and have a civic impact on Downtown similar to that experienced by other municipalities, such as Baltimore and San Antonio.
[5] -Official Website
[6] -Construction Webcam
The Sprint Center, an 18,500-seat arena, is a project that was announced shortly after the Power & Light District. In 2004, the proposed arena was effectively passed by the voters of all the affected counties, who voted to fund the arena by means of a tax on car rentals and hotels.
This project raised some controversy. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, a St. Louis company whose owner is known for supporting an NBA team for St. Louis, lobbied against the tax and tried to sway public opinion against the arena. Some city officials, as well as those who did not desire to pay the increased tax, also fought against the project. One of the most prominent of these individuals was Sandra McFadden-Weaver, a member of the City Council of Kansas City, Missouri. Despite the outcry from a few dissenters, the arena vote passed decidedly.
Construction began late in 2004. Before this, however, and even before the vote, the city sent out a request for local and national architectural firms to bid on the project. Some of these firms included HOK Sports, Ellerbe Beckett, 360 Architecture, Rafael Architects Inc. and the world-renowned Frank Gehry. The first four of those firms, however, collaborated to form the "Downtown Arena Design Team", and won the contract over Gehry's bid. As a reason for their choice, the city stated both that those companies had completed a variety of sports-related projects done many projects related to sports, and that all were local companies.
Since construction began, many local minority leaders have protested the construction company and contractors for not putting enough minorities in the construction and contracting teams. The contractors, however, assert that they have complied with state and federal requirements and continue to meet the requests of local citizens.
As of June 2011, the arena does not have an NBA or NHL tenant.
[7] -Construction Webcam
Bartle Hall Convention Center, having notably expanded over the past decade, has decided to expand yet again. The current project entails a large ballroom facility, situated over I-670's passage through downtown Kansas City just east of the convention center. The project is estimated to cost about $100 million.
A new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is under construction south of Bartle Hall Convention Center and its new ballroom. Construction was started on October 6, 2006, and it is scheduled to open in September 2011. Once completed, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts will be a 316,000-square-foot (29,400 m2) performing arts center. It will serve the Kansas City Metropolitan Area as host to three resident companies: the Kansas City Symphony, Kansas City Ballet, and Kansas City Lyric Opera.
[8] -Construction Webcam
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City decided to move from a 21-story tower in the Downtown Loop to a Penn Valley Park location on the southern edge of Downtown, immediately west of Crown Center on a site formerly occupied by Trinity Lutheran and St. Mary's hospitals. The new bank was dedicated in 2008 and has a 16-story office tower and 2-story operations center. It was designed by Henry N. Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) built a building downtown, just west of Crown Center, to house 6,000 employees. Presumably because of the threat of terrorism, the IRS decided on this particular site because it is in a low-lying area and the development has low-rise buildings. The plan called for a $200 million facility with 5,500 parking spaces in its accompanying garage, and over a million square feet of space for the IRS. Construction began in 2004 and was scheduled for completion in the summer of 2006. The IRS was also to occupy the nearby Kansas City Main Post Office building, the Post Office having moved across the street to a building next to Union Station.
The 120-year-old historic Freight House building in the Crossroads Arts District was renovated in the late 1990s, and it is now home to Grunauer, Lidia’s Kansas City, and Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue. The original plan for the redevelopment included a 21-story hotel and garage; however, the hotel portion of the plan did not materialize at the time, because of then uncertainty about the future redevelopment of downtown.
In August 2007, it was announced that developer Dan Clothier now wants to complete his original plan by adding an 18-story hotel tower atop a three-level garage. The $38 million project calls for the structure to house either 200 hotel rooms or a combination of 160 rooms along with some residential units.
Kansas City's second largest advertising & pr firm Barkley Inc., formerly Barkley Evergreen & Partners, moved its 350 plus employees to the former TWA world headquarters at the very southern edge of the district in November 2006. The building has been empty for two decades and cost over 30 million dollars to renovate. Barkley also reconstructed the famous Disney designed three-story rocket ship that had stood atop the building during TWA's tenure. The Moonliner signified one-time TWA majority shareholder Howard Hughes' desire to guide the airline into space travel. Other renovations to the building included a theater, grass-lined rooftop observation deck, open floor plan, and gallery space featuring art from local and national artists. Barkley adopted the rocket ship as its new logo shortly before moving into the renovated TWA space.
This is a list of all currently under construction, proposed, and envisioned developments for Downtown that include residential units, ranging from lofts, to condos, to studios.
| Name | Units | Location |
| Bridgeworks | 224 | River Market |
| Argyle Building | 90 | Downtown Loop |
| 309, 509 & 510 Delaware | 80 | River Market |
| Windows Lofts | 72 | Crossroads |
| Graphic Arts Building | 58 | Downtown Loop |
| Midland Theater Apartments | 40 | Downtown Loop |
| Cherry Hill Row | 15 | Gillham Row |
| Abdiana Building | 13 | Downtown Loop |
| 1728 Holmes | 7 | Crossroads |
| Total | 1778 | Greater Downtown |
| Beacon Hill | 430 | Beacon Hill |
| East Village | 800 | Downtown Loop |
| Old US Courthouse | 136 | Downtown Loop |
| Mark Twain Hotel | 150 | Downtown Loop |
| SoLo Lofts | 12 | Crossroads |
| Name | Units | Location |
| P&L District | 850 | Downtown Loop |
| Federal Reserve Tower | 120 | Downtown Loop |
| Wellington Place | 110 | Downtown Loop |
| JI Case Building | 105 | Crossroads |
| Clubhouse Lofts West | 95 | Downtown Loop |
| Firestone Building | 90 | Crossroads |
| Graphic Arts Building | 58 | Downtown Loop |
| PCB Project | 50 | Crossroads |
| The Star Lofts | 46 | Crossroads |
| Trinity Lutheran | 29 | Trinity Lutheran/Midtown |
| Republic Paper | 25 | River Market |
| Gate City National Bank | 20 | Downtown Loop |
| 29 Gillham Row | 19 | Gillham Row |
| W Lofts | 17 | Crossroads |
| Midwest Hotel | 13 | Crossroads |
| 2004 Grand | 5 | Crossroads |
| Total | 3180 | Greater Downtown |
AMC Theatres is headquartered at 920 Main Street in CBD-Downtown.[9]
H&R Block, Commerce Bancshares, UMB Bank, Kansas City Southern, BNIM, Great Plains Energy, Aquila, DST Systems, J.E. Dunn Construction Group, Handmark and HNTB are among the companies also headquartered in Downtown Kansas City.
The Consulate-General of Japan in Kansas City was located in the 1800 Commerce Tower at 911 Main Street.[10] In 2004 Japan announced that the consulate would close the following year because of budget cuts.[11]
The Loop is the north central section of Downtown Kansas City, is the most dense section of the city, and is surrounded on all four sides by the downtown freeway loop. Altogether the Loop has an area of nearly one square mile. In 2006, the Downtown Loop had nearly 8,000 residents. The Downtown Loop encompasses Quality Hill, the Central Business District, the Entertainment District, and the Government District.
Bartle Hall Convention Center, having notably expanded over the past decade, has decided to expand yet again. The current project entails a large ballroom facility, situated over I-670's passage through downtown Kansas City just east of the convention center. The project is estimated to cost about $100 million.
As of spring 2006, the project was under construction and the building well on its way to completion. In the end, the Convention Center completed a $150 million "expansion and technology upgrade."
Launched by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) in July 2005, "MAX" (Metro Area Express) is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line extending from downtown through the Country Club Plaza to Waldo. These buses have GPS receivers so bus stops can give real time data about the next pickup time. All buses have dedicated lanes during rush hour and can hold traffic lights green, if needed, to get back on schedule.
The Downtown MAX stops include:
A second MAX BRT route opened on January 1, 2011 (Troost Avenue MAX, or "Green Line"), sharing some downtown stops with what is now called Main Street MAX (or "Orange Line"). Most other KCATA routes have stops throughout downtown, centered on the Transit Plaza at 10th & Main street and Grand Avenue between 11th and 12th.
On November 7, 2006 Kansas City passed a light rail proposal. Only initial route information is available from the KCATA as the study will continue into 2009. The proposal was subsequently repealed by the Kansas City Council and no light rail projects are currently under construction. There has been recent studies for a downtown street car and a commuter rail along I-70.
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