Bowling, karaoke, spiked milkshakes headed to historic spot in Country Club Plaza area
Bowling is coming back to the Country Club Plaza area — along with made-from-scratch food options; other diversions like shuffleboard, classic arcade games and karaoke; and a Milkshake Lab, with alcoholic and non-alcoholic options.
Denver-based Punch Bowl Social will occupy a 21,665-square-foot space over two floors in the historic Jack Henry Building at 612 W. 47th St.
“We are enthusiastically coming to KC,” said founder and CEO Robert Thompson. “We’ve been paying attention to Kansas City for years. We really love that Country Club Plaza area. We just love all the energy there. It feels like the hub for Kansas City.”
He said the Plaza area has all the elements the company looks for — it’s a millennial destination and has strong corporate traffic for private events, which makes up about 30 to 35 percent of its business. A late 2020 opening is scheduled. It will initially have about 240 employees.
The Plaza once had the two-story Plaza Bowl with “a refined, club-like atmosphere” and some of the most up-to-date bowling equipment in the country. It operated for decades on what is now Nichols Road before closing in the late 1970s.
The new bowling spot will include a restaurant serving dishes such as shrimp burgers with Old Bay mayonnaise, crab cheese Rangoon dip, and cocoa-dusted carnitas tacos. Three craft cocktail bars will offer signature punches, craft cocktails and non-alcoholic cocktails, fresh juices and local craft beers.
It will have eight bowling lanes, private karaoke rooms, darts with dart tracking technology, shuffleboard tables, board games, classic arcade games, and private event and gathering spaces.
It also will have one of the chain’s newest features — the Milkshake Lab where employees build over-the-top milkshakes (some with a little extra punch) while customers look on. The first Milkshake Lab will be rolled out at a Denver-area Punch Bowl Social in December.
The Plaza area location’s design will meld themes of mountain lodge, Victorian, mid-century modern and industrial design, along with Kansas City history.
Punch Bowl Social touts 18 locations across the United States, including outposts in Denver, Chicago and Minneapolis. The first location opened in Denver in 2012.
David Block, a partner in the four-story Skelly Building across the street from the new Punch Bowl Social site, has been to several of the chain’s locations and is a fan of the concept. He said it will draw young adults to the Plaza area.
“It’s a millennial bar, entertainment. Really fun and interactive,” Block said.
Matt Pennington, president of Drake Development, is redeveloping the Jack Henry building, which formerly housed a clothing store and the longtime bar and restaurant Tomfooleries. Jack Henry was the name of an 83-year-old clothing store that shuttered in 2014, before being rebranded into Byron in 2014.
Pennington sought incentives from the Port Authority of Kansas City to redevelop the building. While he did not disclose the primary tenant, he promised an entertainment destination that would be new to the market.
Though the project will receive no property tax breaks, the port authority did approve a special Port Improvement District for the building in August. That will have all tenants impose an extra 1% sales tax on all sales to funnel back to the developer. The developer expects the building to generate $35 million in annual sales — meaning the 1% sales tax could raise about $350,000 per year.
The structure will retain the Jack Henry Building name and signage and keep the historic character of the 64,000-square-foot building.
This story was originally published November 7, 2019 at 12:25 PM.
