5 projects near the Country Club Plaza that could break ground after potential ownership change
Although empty storefronts have plagued the Country Club Plaza since the pandemic hit Kansas City, there’s no shortage of construction plans around the iconic shopping center.
Plans for apartments and retail have been brewing for years on some lots. If the Plaza changes ownership, which could happen by the end of the year, some of the developments may see even more progress.
Here’s an overview of five projects to watch around the Plaza.
Block and Sunflower’s apartment proposal at 4627 Madison Ave. would sit just north of the Plaza Corporate Centre office building. It would demolish and replace spaces in the offices’ existing parking garage.
4627 Madison apartments
A partnership of Block Real Estate Services LLC and Sunflower Development Group looks to build a 10-story, 213-apartment complex near the Plaza’s northwest corner at 4627 Madison Ave.
The project would bring 213 studio, one- and two-bedroom units to a 2-acre site that now consists of a surface parking lot and the Plaza Corporate Centre offices’ parking garage, which would be demolished and replaced with a new 477-space garage for residents and office tenants.
The apartments would be almost 97 feet tall on Madison Avenue and 88 feet tall on Summit Street on average. Amenities would be concentrated on the complex’s 10th floor and include a pool with a swim-up bar, covered grill area, clubhouse, fitness center and work-from-home spaces.
Block and Sunflower first submitted plans and a rezoning request in late September, which are scheduled for review by the City Plan Commission on Nov. 7. Pending city and anticipated incentive approvals, the developers target a 2024 groundbreaking and an 18- to 24-month construction window.
This rendering shows a south view of Lane4’s proposed mixed-use building at 4711 Belleview Ave.
4711 Belleview apartments
One high-profile residential project just west of the Plaza is a 13-story, 328-apartment high-rise planned by Lane4 Property Group at 4711 Belleview Ave., in place of 1.3 acres of surface parking and vacant parcels, including where the original JJ’s restaurant exploded in February 2013.
At least two previous multifamily proposals came and went at the site before Lane4 filed plans in May 2022. The builder got the City Council’s approval that August after meetings with neighbors and Historic Kansas City led to a height reduction for the $140 million complex. The project includes a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units above a 418-space underground garage.
Over the summer, the Port Authority of Kansas City took up an incentive request for Lane4’s project at the request of city leadership. Port commissioners in late August approved an expression of intent to provide the apartments a 20-year stair-stepping property tax exemption valued at $28.9 million. Lane4 has shared plans to break ground in 2024 and complete the project in 2026.
This rendering shows a nighttime perspective of Drake’s revised three-story Cocina 47 plan.
Cocina 47
Drake Development LLC first circulated plans for a three-story multi-restaurant building called Cocina 47 in place of The Seventh Church of Christ, Scientist at 604 W. 47th St. in October 2021. In March 2022, Drake submitted a larger nine-story plan with six full-floor condos atop the restaurants.
The developer’s request was 115 feet taller than what the Plaza Bowl Overlay District allows. City planners unanimously recommended against the taller plan that June, following outcry from adjacent office owner Block Real Estate Services LLC and Historic Kansas City.
This year, the City Council in late May approved a plan to make Cocina 47 three stories. Drake made building height and parking agreements with Block and the Plaza’s owners. Port KC commissioners between May and June also signed off on a special taxing district, 33-year fixed property tax schedule and sales tax exemption on construction materials for the $35 million project.
Drake has said Cocina 47’s construction could begin in late 2023, in time for its restaurants to open in April 2025, but a demolition permit for the 81-year-old church has not yet been filed.
Block Real Estate Services LLC proposes The Madison, a 200-plus-unit luxury apartment building near the Plaza.
The Madison
Block since early 2017 has eyed a luxury apartment high-rise on a triangular trophy property south of 46th Street, between Roanoke Parkway and Madison Avenue, near the Plaza’s northwest corner. Different versions of the plan, initially called 47Madison, included between 245 and 288 units in 13 to 15 stories, as well as a series of two-story townhome-esque units along Roanoke Parkway.
The most recent public movement on Block’s project, now named The Madison, came in February 2022, when city officials approved amended plans for a 16-story, 238-apartment tower. The developer last year said The Madison will top its list of project priorities as soon as higher interest rates and construction prices come back in line.
Demolition of the Country Club Plaza Holiday Inn, 4501 Main St. in Kansas City, was underway as of January 2021.
Museum Tower
It’s been well over two years since Americo Life Inc. and Burns & McDonnell submitted an incentive application to the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City for Museum Tower, a $116.2 million proposal southeast of 45th and Main streets, where the team demolished the former Country Club Plaza Holiday Inn at 4501 Main St.
Museum Tower was envisioned with 300 high-end studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, a 460-space underground garage and ground-level mixed uses as of early 2021, when the development team filed its application ahead of an effective date for the city’s affordable housing set-aside requirement.
The site has not since seen public movement. However, with its exemption from the set-asides set to expire in April 2024, plus significant development interest elsewhere along the southern streetcar extension, that could change in the foreseeable future.
