Downtown Kansas City
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Downtown Kansas City is the central business district (CBD) of Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City metropolitan area which contains 3.8% of the area's employment.[1] It is between the Missouri River in the north, to 31st Street in the south; and from the Kansas–Missouri state line eastward to Bruce R. Watkins Drive as defined by the Downtown Council of Kansas City;[2] the 2010 Greater Downtown Area Plan formulated by the City of Kansas City defines the Greater Downtown Area to be the city limits of North Kansas City and Missouri to the north, the Kansas–Missouri state line to the west, 31st Street to the south and Woodland Avenue to the east.[3] However, the definition used by the Downtown Council is the most commonly accepted.
In March 2012, Downtown Kansas City was selected as one of America's Best downtowns by
Demographics
In 2013, the Downtown Council reported a population of 19,899 residents, 11,790 housing units, and a median household income of $61,491.[5]
In 2000, the population may have been as low as 10,000 people with 7,330 units.[citation needed] In 2005, the population density was approximately 5,617 inhabitants per square mile (2,169/km2) in its 3.0-square-mile (7.8 km2) area.[citation needed] According to Local Market reports, Downtown houses approximately 20,000,000 square feet (1,900,000 m2) of office space.[citation needed] However, the vacancy of this space was at about 15%.[citation needed] Downtown has about 12,800,000 square feet (1,190,000 m2) of Class A&B office space,[citation needed] with a vacancy rate of 15.9%,[6] and over 100,000 employees.[citation needed] Downtown has a total of 5,606 hotel rooms, accounting for 22.5% of the total amount of hotel rooms in the metropolitan area.[citation needed] The average occupancy of these rooms is about 56.5%.[citation needed] As of 2007, about 2,800,000 square feet (260,000 m2) of office space are under construction in Downtown Kansas City.[citation needed] Current investments into downtown redevelopment have exceeded $6 billion.[7]
Architecture
- Boley Building, one of the world's first glass-curtain buildings, listed on the National Register in 1971
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Josephalong with the Cathedral of St. Joseph
- Central Library, main branch of the Kansas City Public Library system
- Commerce Tower, headquarters of Commerce Bank
- City Hall, 29-story skyscraper
- Hotel President, historic hotel whose famous Drum Room lounge has attracted entertainers from across the country, including Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, and Marilyn Maye, hosted the 1928 Republican National Convention, listed on the National Register in 1983
- Kansas City Athletic Club, athletic club and gentlemen's club, notable members have included President Harry S. Truman
- Kansas City Convention Center, major convention center, largest column-free convention environment in the world
- Kansas City Power and Light Building, was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River upon its completion after succeeding the Smith Tower until the completion of the Space Needle in 1962, listed on the National Register in 2002
- Louis Curtiss Studio Building, designed by architect Louis Curtiss and served as his studio, listed on the National Register in 1972
- Mainstreet Theater, historic theater, listed on the National Register in 2007
- Midland Theatre, historic theater, listed on the National Register in 1977
- Final Fours
- New York Life Building, regarded as Kansas City's first skyscraper and was the first building in the city equipped with elevators, listed on the National Register in 1970
- One Kansas City Place, tallest building in the state of Missouri
- Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park, urban park located in the financial district
- Power and Light District, dining, shopping, office and entertainment district
- T-Mobile Center, large multi-use indoor arena, connected to the College Basketball Experience
Redevelopment projects
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.[citation needed]
Power & Light District
The Power & Light District, also known as the Entertainment District, is a nine-block area to the immediate south of the Central Business District. Originally to be named Kansas City Live,
The H&R Block building, which opened in mid-2006, has a prominent oval shape, mixed with blue-green reflective glass. This is among newer, glass-walled buildings, also including the
Cordish planned four residential towers as part of the project, which include a 25-floor residential tower (One Light), to the immediate north of the H&R Block headquarters on a lot once occupied by the flagship store of the Jones Store Company. Groundbreaking on the complex began in March 2006. As of 2023, One and Two Lights are complete, and Three Light is under construction. The Entertainment District practically shares a border with I-670. Enclosed between the residential towers and H&R Block's new building will be many shops and restaurants new to the Kansas City area. The new district has become a major attraction for residents and visitors, and has had a civic impact on Downtown similar to that experienced by other municipalities, such as
T-Mobile Center
The
Construction began on the T-Mobile Center in late 2004. Before this, however, and even before the vote, the city sent out requests to local and national architectural firms – including HOK Sports, Ellerbe Beckett, 360 Architecture, Rafael Architects Inc. and the world-renowned Frank Gehry – to bid on the project. The first four of the aforementioned firms, however, collaborated to form the "Downtown Arena Design Team," and won the contract over Gehry's bid, with the city citing the companies had completed a variety of sports-related projects and were based locally as the reason for their selection. 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 they have complied with state and federal requirements and continue to meet the requests of local citizens.
The T-Mobile Center opened in 2007; as of June 2011, the arena does not have an NBA or NHL tenant. However, the arena has served as the venue for events such as concerts and since March 2008, the Big 12 Basketball Tournament.
Kansas City Convention Center
The Kansas City Convention Center consists of several buildings, either connected to or adjacent to each other: Bartle Hall, the Grand Ballroom, the Conference Center, Meeting Rooms, and Barney Allis Plaza. This totals more than 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2).[8]
Bartle Hall was opened in 1976, in time for the Republican National Convention. As time passed, the need for more room grew. In 1994, Kansas City-based HNTB and BNIM designed an expansion that spanned over I-670 through downtown.[9] After the project's completion, 388,800 square feet were available for the exhibition hall. The expansion also included a grand ballroom, conference center, and meeting rooms.[8]
The facilities include Municipal Auditorium, an Art Deco venue built in 1934. It features an arena that seats 10,700; a music hall that seats 2,400; and a little theater suited for more private events.[10] The auditorium connects via parking garage and skywalk to the rest of the convention center.
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
The
The 316,000 square foot performing arts center consists of the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Theater, Helzberg Hall, and the Brandmeyer Great Hall. Its three resident companies are the Kansas City Symphony, Kansas City Ballet, and Kansas City Lyric Opera. By May 2015, more than 1.5 million people had attended the center.[12]
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is a 16-story office tower with a two-story operations center designed by Henry N. Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. It is at Penn Valley Park on the southern edge of Downtown, to the immediate west of Crown Center on a site formerly occupied by Trinity Lutheran and St. Mary's Hospitals. The bank was based out of a 21-story tower in the Downtown Loop until the Penn Valley Park facility opened in 2008.
IRS offices
The
Freight House
The historic Freight House building in the Crossroads Arts District was built in the 1880s; it 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 because of uncertainty about the future redevelopment of downtown.
In August 2007, developer Dan Clothier announced he wanted 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 200 hotel rooms or a combination of 160 rooms along with some residential units.
Barkley, Inc.
In November, 2006, Barkley Inc., an advertising and public relations firm formerly known as Barkley Evergreen & Partners, moved its 350+ employees to the former TWA world headquarters at the district's southern edge. The building had been empty for two decades and cost over $30 million to renovate. Barkley also reconstructed the famous Walt Disney-designed three-story rocket ship that 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 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. BNIM Architects moved to the building's third floor in 2014.
Economy
The
Points of interest
- T-Mobile Center
- The Midland Theatre
- Power & Light District
- Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
- The Crossroads Arts District
- Folly Theater
- The River Market
- Municipal Auditorium
- Crown Center
- Union Station
- Liberty Memorial
The Barney Allis Plaza is a park at the intersection of 12th Street and Wyandotte. It is named after the prominent Kansas City hotelier, and owner of the Standard Theater, Barney Allis. From April 11, 2006 until 2011, it hosted the Kansas City Explorers, the World TeamTennis team.[13] The Kansas City Sports Walk of Stars[14] was constructed at the edge of this park in 1991, and the first three polished granite slabs bore the names of inductees George Brett, Len Dawson, and Tom Watson.[15] The Walk is officially recognized by the city, and has used its common-law trademark since 1993.[16]
Neighborhoods
The Loop
The Loop is the north central section of Downtown Kansas City; it 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.
Districts in The Loop are:
- The Library District is an officially designated area roughly bounded by 9th and 11th Streets on the north and south, and Main Street and Broadway on the east and west in Downtown Kansas City. The Library District name was adopted in 2003 in connection with the move of the Kansas City Public Library's Central Branch to a building formerly the headquarters of the First National Bank of Kansas City. This area includes the Kansas City Club, the Community Bookshelf (which is the exterior of the library's parking garage), and the 10th and Main Transit Plaza, one of the regional bus terminals. This area was developed as a commercial and entertainment area in the 1880s, but it now has many loft buildings. Several surface parking lots that remain may be redeveloped into more intensive developments.
- The Kansas City-style barbecue, started in 1908 at an alley stand in the neighborhood.
- The Government District – on the east side of the downtown loop – consists of Kansas City's Courthouse, Police Headquarters, the Bolling Federal Building, the Charles Evans Whittaker U.S. Courthouse, which serves as the seat of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. The government buildings are in walking distance of each other and are centered around Ilus Davis Park.
- The Kansas City, Missouri School Districtand, until the spring of 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The financial buildings are in walking distance of each other.
- The Power & Light District is a nine-block entertainment district developed by the Cordish Company of Baltimore, Maryland, which has been under construction since 2004 and is nearing completion. It is situated along the southern edge of the downtown loop, bordered by Municipal Auditorium, H&R Block's new corporate headquarters and the 18,000-seat Sprint Center, which opened on October 10, 2007.
- The Convention District consists of the Kansas City Convention Center, Municipal Auditorium, the Power & Light District, and the T-Mobile Center, each in walking distance.
Crossroads Arts District
The
Crown Center
Crown Center is a district developed by Hallmark. Within Crown Center, families can enjoy an aquarium, Legoland, and Kaleidoscope. There are several mid to upscale stores, and hotels include the Sheraton and the Westin. The district is a short walk from the National World War I Museum and Memorial. Union Station and the rest of Crown Center connect via a skywalk called the Link.
The River Market
Transportation
KCATA- RideKC
RideKC Bus & MAX
Launched by the
A second MAX route opened on January 1, 2011 (Troost Avenue MAX, or "Green Line"), which shares 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 Streets and Grand Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets.
RideKC Streetcar
On December 12, 2012, a ballot initiative to construct a $102 million, two-mile
RideKC Bridj
In 2015, the KCATA, Unified Government Transit, Johnson County Transit, and IndeBus (all separate metro services) began merging into one coordinated transit service for the Kansas City region, called RideKC. The buses and other transit options will be branded as: RideKC Bus, RideKC MAX, RideKC Streetcar, and RideKC Bridj. RideKC Bridj is a micro transit service partnership between Ford Bridj and KCATA that began on March 7, 2016. Users download the Bridj app and use the service much like a taxi service. The merger and full coordination is expected to be complete by 2019.
Regional
- Amtrak
- Union Station
- Bus Lines
- Greyhound Lines
- Jefferson Lines
- El Conejo
Education
Universities
- Park University (satellite location)
- Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences
Libraries
See also
- List of tallest buildings in Kansas City
References
- ^ http://www.demographia.com/db-cbd2000.pdf
- ^ "General Information". Downtown Council of Kansas City. Downtown Council of Kansas City. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
- ^ "Greater Downtown Area Plan" (PDF). City of Kansas City, Missouri. City of Kansas City, Missouri. Retrieved 2 September 2013.[permanent dead link]
- Forbes.
- ^ "2013 Downtown Kansas City Housing Report" (PDF). Downtown Council of Kansas City. Downtown Council of Kansas City. Retrieved 2 September 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "KC's Downtown Office Vacancies Decline". January 16, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ Kansas City Downtown Council. "Summary of Downtown Investment". Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
- ^ a b "Kansas City Convention Center". Visit KC. 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
- ^ "Bartle Hall Ballroom Expansion | BNIM". www.bnim.com. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
- ^ "Municipal Auditorium". Visit KC. 2015-02-12. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
- ^ "Architecture | Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts". www.kauffmancenter.org. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
- ^ "History | Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts". www.kauffmancenter.org. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
- ^ "Barney Allis Plaza". Kansas City, Missouri website. Archived from the original on 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
- ^ Cox, Masten (2000)."'The Kansas City Flash': The Lives & Times of Masten Gregory". ATLAS F1, vol. 6, #29. Kaizar.com, Inc.
- ^ "Walk of Stars". The Kansas City Star September 13, 1991, p. C1. (subscription required)
- ^ Pulliam, Kent (June 8, 1999). "Note to film folks: Sports Walk of Stars was here first". The Kansas City Star, p. C2. (subscription required)
- ^ "Maps and Schedules". KCATA. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
- ^ "Light Rail and MAX". KCATA. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
- ^ "Kansas City voters approve streetcar plan". Kansas City Business Journal. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
- ^ "Kansas City streetcar rides will be free". Kansas City Business Journal. Retrieved January 26, 2013.