How a revived state program could help ‘double’ downtown KC’s Power & Light District

Gov. Mike Kehoe’s signature revived a state tax incentive program that could help support big development projects in Kansas City, including a possible Power & Light expansion.

Kehoe signed House Bill 3231 on Monday, which reauthorized the Missouri Downtown Economic Stimulus Act, also known as MODESA.

The program dates back to the early 2000s and allows the state to temporarily redirect some of the new tax revenue generated by a development project — including state sales taxes and income taxes — to help support the project’s costs. A local match would be required.

“Missouri is open for business, growth, and opportunity,” Kehoe said in a statement. “The passage of House Bill 3231 was critical in our efforts to continue revitalizing Missouri’s main streets, central business districts, and downtowns.”

MODESA incentives helped make Kansas City’s Power & Light District, which helped transform downtown with a new entertainment zone, into a reality back in the 2000s.

But the program later sunset in the 2010s, meaning it stopped accepting applications and could not be used.

What the new version of MODESA could bring

The updated version now includes a more expansive definition of what counts as “downtown” and where projects receiving support can go, such as looping in riverfront areas.

That could be relevant as officials eye expanding the KC Current’s CPKC Stadium along the growing Berkley Riverfront and building a new Royals stadium district around Crown Center.

And the program’s revival could also fuel an expansion of the Power & Light District in Kansas City and the Ballpark Village in St. Louis, both of which were developed by Baltimore-based Cordish.

Blake Cordish, a Cordish executive, told state legislators in March that Missouri would not have Power & Light or the Ballpark Village without MODESA.

“These projects were impossible but for MODESA,” he said at a legislative hearing.

He said then that Cordish is now proposing another $2.5 billion investment in Missouri that could double the districts’ sizes: more restaurants, more retail, more entertainment options, new offices to retain and attract companies and new housing units.

“We can’t do it without MODESA,” Cordish said. “The numbers just don’t work.”

Cordish said there is once again an essential need for “cranes in the sky.”

When will Four Light be built?

Cordish has already proposed building a new “Light” tower downtown — the fourth, after the already-constructed luxury One, Two and Three Lights.

Early plans indicated that Four Light could be about 25 stories with 293 new apartment units, a parking garage and 17,000 square feet of retail space near the former B&B movie theater, 1400 Main St.

The city moved forward with opening up local incentives for the Four Light project in early 2025.

It remains unclear exactly when construction on Four Light could begin. A Cordish official told The Star this week that there were no updates to share at this time.