New multi-story restaurant would demolish historic church, test Plaza height rules
The way Robert Martin sees it, the rules were put in place for a reason.
In 2019, the Kansas City Council adopted a new plan for the Country Club Plaza and surrounding area that limits the height of future developments.
“You don’t want the Plaza to become a place with very tall buildings and it feels like you’re in a canyon on the sidewalk,” said Martin, president of the Plaza Westport Neighborhood Association.
But now, a local developer aims to far exceed those height requirements by building a multi-story restaurant building near the Plaza — and demolishing a historic church building in the process.
Overland Park-based Drake Development hasn’t submitted official development plans, but has been circulating them in meetings with city officials and others. The firm has already bought the Seventh Church of Christ, Scientist, at the northwest corner of 47th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.
It plans to demolish the Romanesque-style church, which opened in 1942, and replace it with a three-story restaurant space.
The plan is facing fierce opposition from neighbors, Historic Kansas City, Block Real Estate Services and Taubman Realty Group, which owns the Country Club Plaza shops and restaurants.
While many opponents would like to see the church saved, they see that as a lost cause. Now, they’re most concerned with preventing a large-scale building that doesn’t meet city requirements. The height of new buildings in that part of the Plaza is limited to three stories and 45 feet.
While exact designs are still being negotiated, Drake Development initially had plans to build as high as 76 feet.
Martin said the Kansas City Council has been too lax with variance requests in the past and should enforce the rules it has enacted.
“If it were clear that the city was going to enforce its regulations, then developers would not be incentivized to design structures that need variances,” he said. “It is incumbent upon the city to be adults and adhere to what they have put in the city code.”
Matt Pennington, president of Drake Development, said his firm has already scaled down the height of the building, called cocina47, after receiving feedback from neighbors and city leaders.
But he says the building can’t go too much shorter because high-end restaurant tenants are demanding higher ceilings. The cocina47 project will include two or three restaurants with ceilings of 15 to 16 feet, he said.
“We have listened to staff, we’ve listened to surrounding property owners,” he said. But “we’re at a point where we’ve shaved off as much height as we can.”
Aside from an ornamental tower, Pennington said the new building is now in full compliance with city height requirements on the portion facing 47th Street. Most of the third floor is under 45 feet, he said, but he will seek a variance for a small portion that goes higher.
The developer thinks the unique height requirements in and around the Plaza should be changed to position it for a future beyond just retail. He’d like to see denser developments that include a mix of uses like housing, entertainment and office.
Drake Development has also repurposed the former Jack Henry building, which is 65 feet tall. It was grandfathered in, he said, though he did receive an 8-foot variance for its decorative tower. That building is home to a Chiefs Fit gym and will soon land Puttery, a high-tech mini golf course with bars and lounge areas.
“You’re seeing it through the tenants I’m landing,” he said. “The two tenants we’ve landed are not retail. And they’re the two biggest anchors the Plaza has landed in the last seven years.”
But not everyone has bought into his ideas for the future of the Plaza.
Taubman Realty, the operator and part owner of the Plaza shopping center, is fighting the cocina47 development.
“We call on the City to hold Drake Development to the same standards, and transparency, as other developers and real estate owners,” Taubman said in a news release. “Otherwise, the future and quality of new developments in Kansas City and existing developments is seriously in question.”
Taubman also noted that Drake Development doesn’t plan to add new parking. City rules require 10 parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet of new restaurant space. Drake Development has indicated plans to rely on parking garages at the Plaza, which are owned and operated by Taubman.
“The unprecedented poaching of Plaza parking will be a direct detriment to Plaza tenants and their customers and the sustainability of the Plaza,” Taubman’s statement said.
Drake Development said it’s interested in participating in a special sales tax district at the Plaza that provides revenue for parking upkeep.
This isn’t the first time building height has been at issue on this site.
In 2018, Legacy Development proposed demolishing the church and building a 12-story tower that would include offices, retail, apartments, dining and a new space for the congregation.
At the time, Historic Kansas City said it was working with Friends of the Plaza to mount “an aggressive campaign to save the Plaza from new high-rise development.” Historic Kansas City nominated the church as a historic landmark.
But those plans fizzled as the church objected to the designation. Union Station is the only property Kansas City has ever designated as a historic landmark against the property owner’s objections.
Legacy Development never completed its project, but the controversy did lead to the creation of new regulations on Plaza area projects. In 2019, the City Council codified height restrictions included in the Midtown/Plaza Area Plan, a guiding document the city developed in conjunction with neighborhood groups and adopted in 2016.
The council created a new zoning overlay, which establishes specific height requirements in and around the Plaza. Those are aimed at maintaining the unique character of the Plaza “bowl” by keeping buildings at the heart of the shopping center smaller to keep its historic charm. Developers can pursue taller projects around the edge of the district.
Opponents hope the building restrictions will be enough to nix the project or at least lower its height. But that won’t save the historic church building.
“Unfortunately we’re afraid that the church is probably a lost cause,” said Lisa Briscoe, executive director of Historic Kansas City.
Now, she’s fighting for enforcement of the unique regulations on new construction in the area. Briscoe said the zoning overlay was created with neighborhood and business input. And a proactive policy prevents reactive project-by-project controversies, she said.
“That is why we all pushed for the overlay back in 2019 so everyone knew what the rules were,” Briscoe said. “It is law. It’s not a guideline...This is what the law says they should do.”
And she fears a variance approved for the new restaurant building would encourage more developers to seek changes in the rules.
“If this deviation were to be proposed and accepted, what is the implication of that for all future Plaza development?” she said. “It would be as if Pandora’s box was ripped wide open.”
Katheryn Shields, an at-large member of the Kansas City Council who represents the 4th District, said she has been meeting with Drake Development for months about its proposed project.
While renderings show a three-story building, Shields said those images can be deceptive. A mezzanine effectively adds a fourth story, she said. And unusually high ceilings make each floor much higher than a standard construction project.
Still, she said she’s open to working with the developer to amend the project.
“I’d love to have the building preserved, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said. “So if we can work out height issues and parking issues, I’m willing to take some of the heat for tearing down the historic church. But we’ve got to work these issues out.”
Shields said the developer has not yet mentioned any request for tax incentives. But she noted that the same company went to the Kansas City Port Authority, not City Hall, for an incentive request for the redevelopment of the Jack Henry Building. The Port Authority in 2019 approved a special tax zone for that building that will impose an extra 1% sales tax to funnel back to the developer.
The councilwoman said she thinks other local businesses would welcome the additional restaurant space on the Plaza.
“I’m still hopeful we can work something out,” Shields said.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
