Kansas City Power & Light District

The Kansas City Power & Light District, or simply the Power & Light District, KCP&L or the P&L, is a dining, shopping, office and entertainment district in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, United States, developed by The Cordish Companies of Baltimore, Maryland, and designed by Beyer Blinder Belle and 360 Architecture. The district comprises nine blocks on the south side of the downtown loop. It is located between Baltimore Avenue to the west, Grand Boulevard to the east, 12th Street to the north, and Interstate 670 to the south.[1] The $850 million mixed use district is one of the largest development projects in the Midwestern United States,[2] and is anchored by the renovated Midland Theatre, Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet Cinema and the world headquarters of H&R Block.[3] While the district was originally projected to generate enough tax revenue to pay for the bonds that were issued to finance it, the city has instead needed to rely on its general fund and refinancing to make debt payments.[4][5]

Power & Light District
Location50 East 13th Street
Suite 200
Kansas City, Missouri 64106
Coordinates39°05′52″N 94°34′56″W
OwnerThe Cordish Companies
TypeMixed-use retail, entertainment, office, and residential development
Capacitynine city block area
Construction
Built2005 - 2008
OpenedFirst tenant opened November 9, 2007
Website
powerandlightdistrict.com

In 2009, the Power & Light District was the recipient of the Urban Land Institute Award of Excellence[6] for its impact on the revitalization of downtown Kansas City.

Location
Power & Light District in Kansas City, MO

The Power & Light District is immediately to the west of the T-Mobile Center. The district was named after the art deco Kansas City Power and Light Building. The present headquarters of the Kansas City Power & Light Company (a subsidiary of Great Plains Energy) is also located on the northern side of the district. A one-block entertainment area within the district is called Kansas City Live!, and contains two floors of bars and restaurants, as well as a large, partially enclosed courtyard and concert venue.[7]

Kansas City Live!
The interior of the Kansas City Live! block of the Power & Light District, featuring the Kansas City Live! stage.

At the heart of the Power & Light District is Kansas City Live!, a one block area devoted to live music and entertainment venues. At the center of Kansas City Live! is a covered outdoor plaza used for dozens of concerts each year. The stage in Kansas City Live! has featured acts like Dierks Bentley, Macklemore, the Commodores, Luke Bryan, Bleachers, Vance Joy, The Neighbourhood, Cole Swindell, Portugal. The Man, Grouplove, Foster the People, The Lumineers, Flo Rida, Travis Scott, and many more. The roof system, produced by Structurflex, is made of an Ethylene TetraFluoro Ethylene (ETFE) single-skin membrane. Construction of the roof began on August 17, 2007.[8]

The ground floor of the Kansas City Live! block focuses on bars and restaurants, including McFadden's Sports Saloon, Flying Saucer, Cleaver & Cork, The Dubliner, Johnny's Tavern, Pizza Bar and County Road Ice House, which is a locally owned partnership between Back Napkin and Joes BBQ. The second floor of Kansas City Live! houses the night clubs and entertainment concepts, including Mosaic Ultra Lounge, Angels Rock Bar, Howl at the Moon, PBR Big Sky, Shark Bar and No Other Pub, which is a partnership between Cordish and local MLS soccer team, Sporting Kansas City.

The Kansas City Live! area of the Power & Light District was showcased before a television audience twice during May 2008. American Idol finalist David Cook played a short set from the Kansas City Live! stage on May 9, 2008, which aired during the television show the following week.[9] The same location also hosted the official watch party for the final episode of the 2008 season, which featured a live television feed from the Power & Light District.[10][11]

The Kansas City Live! block received national attention once again for its World Cup watch parties in 2010 and 2014. It was also heavily featured on Fox during the 2014 and 2015 World Series. Fox Sports Kansas City broadcast live from the Kansas City Live! stage during this time.[12]

Notable tenants
  • Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet Theater - first all-digital movie theater in the United States; shows current movies in six theaters; located at 14th & Main (opened May 1, 2009)[13]
  • GNC - 1,700-square-foot (160 m2) location of the Pittsburgh-based chain of stores selling health and nutrition related products, over the counter drugs, and food supplements (opened December 31, 2008)
  • Gordon Biersch Brewing Company - 8,500-square-foot (790 m2) location of the Chattanooga-based chain of brewery/restaurants† (opened March 10, 2008)
  • H&R Block - world headquarters (opened October, 2006)
  • Hilton President Kansas City - 213-room refurbished historic 1926 hotel, featuring the Drum Room (reopened January 5, 2006)
  • Jos. A. Bank - 4,300-square-foot (400 m2) location of the Maryland-based men's clothing designer and retailer located at 1320 Main St. (opened February 13, 2009)[14]
  • Midland Theatre - 3,500-person capacity concert and live music venue (reopened September 2008)
  • PBR Big Sky - country and western bar located at the north end of the Kansas City Live! block at 111 E. 13th St. (opened April 10, 2008)[15]
  • Sprint Studio - 5,500-square-foot (510 m2) store in the district.(opened March 5, 2008)
  • T-Mobile - 1,800-square-foot (170 m2) store[16]

†- located in Kansas City Live!

Residential
One Light Luxury Apartments

Within the Power & Light District, Cordish plans to build four high-end residential towers. On April 22, 2014, Cordish broke ground on the first apartment tower called One Light Luxury Apartments. One Light officially opened 80% leased on December 8, 2015.[17] The tower is 25 stories tall and connected to the nearby Cosentino's Grocery store[18] and OneLife Fitness gym.[19]

In March 2016, construction began on the second residential tower, Two Light Luxury Apartments.[20] Two Light officially opened on May 4, 2018. The 24-story luxury apartment building features 296 units, each with floor-to-ceiling windows, like its predecessor, One Light.[21] Two Light also includes a 438-space garage, 3,100 square feet (290 m2) of boutique retail space, and 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2) of coworking office space, Spark KC. Spark KC is scheduled to open in late 2018.[22] In 2022, ground was broken on Three Light, and the 301 foot tower was completed in September of 2023.[23] It is 25 stories with 288 units.[24]

Festival license

In 2005, the Cordish Company successfully lobbied the Missouri General Assembly for a new law pertaining to any "entertainment district" in Downtown Kansas City which will allow patrons to remove any alcoholic beverage from any establishment in the District and carry it openly throughout the portions of the District not open to vehicular traffic, provided that the beverage is in a plastic cup marked with the logo of the establishment at which it was purchased.[25][26][27] The Power & Light District is one of only a few places in the United States with such an open container allowance (along with the city of Butte, Montana, the Las Vegas Strip, the city of New Orleans, Key West, Florida, the Arts and Entertainment District of Huntsville, Alabama, Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, and the historic district of downtown Savannah, Georgia).

See also

References
  1. "Map of the Power & Light District". Mapquest.com. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
  2. "The Cordish Company Announces Lead Design Team for Kansas City Live!". Kansas City infoZine. 21 July 2004. Archived from the original on 10 August 2004. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  3. HOK. "H&R Block World Headquarters". www.hok.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  4. Horsley, Lynn (7 February 2015). "Despite large Power & Light District crowds, taxpayers are still on the hook". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  5. Kite, Allison (11 February 2021). "Kansas City spent millions to subsidize Power & Light. Amid COVID, it might refinance". The Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  6. "Urban Land Institute Awards for Excellence History". Urban Land Institute. 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  7. "Power & Light District". www.powerandlightdistrict.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  8. "Power & Light District Construction Reaches Next Step". MyFox Kansas City. 17 August 2007.
  9. "Hometown Fans Turn Out for Their 'Idol' Hopefuls". The Ledger. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  10. ""American Idol" Season 7 Finale". CBS News. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  11. "David Cook Hometown, Blue Springs to Participate in American Idol Season Finale" (PDF). City of Blue Springs, Missouri. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  12. "World Cup watch parties spread across the US". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  13. "All digital, plus drinks: State-of-the-art Mainstreet theater opens Friday - Kansas City Star". www.kansascity.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2009.
  14. "Power & Light's first clothing store opens Friday | Dollars & Sense". Economy.kansascity.com. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
  15. "Ridin', Ropin' & Wranglin'.. PBR Big Sky Opens Today". Kansascity.about.com. 2008-04-10. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
  16. http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/1043945.html
  17. "Kansas City's One Light apartments make a downtown statement". kansascity. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  18. Alonzo, Austin (March 14, 2014). "Work on Cordish's One Light apartment tower will begin in April". Kansas City Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2014-03-22.
  19. "Onelife Fitness KC - Kansas City's Best Downtown Gym". onelifekc.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  20. Kaberline, Brian (March 14, 2016). "Two Light 'groundbreaking' celebrates growth of KC's Downtown - Kansas City Business Journal". Kansas City Business Journal. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  21. Davis, Miranda (May 8, 2018). "Take a look inside Two Light and its luxury apartments [PHOTOS]". Kansas City Business Journal.
  22. "Two Light will include coworking space". Kansas City Business Journal. January 30, 2018.
  23. https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/three-light-tower/38706
  24. https://rebusinessonline.com/cordish-opens-three-light-luxury-apartments-in-kansas-citys-power-light-district/
  25. Section 311.086, R.S.Mo.
  26. "Sections 10-134 and 10-135, Kansas City Code of Ordinances". Library3.municode.com:80. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
  27. Rick Alm, "Drinking to be allowed on street in Power & Light District", The Kansas City Star, July 27, 2005
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