Historic downtown KC building could become a data center. Why this group opposes it

A proposed data center tower could replace a historic building that played a “national role” in the history of communications and newspaper publishing.

An architect for Revitalization Unlimited, a Miami-based investment fund with a focus on historic preservation, filed plans with the city last month for what would be a 20-story data center building at 934 Central St. with retail on the first floor, such as a coffee shop.

Remaining floors would be dedicated to data center infrastructure, according to plans, which also show that an existing building on the site would be demolished and replaced.

On the property now is the Western Newspaper Union Building, which was built in 1900 and is listed on the National Register for Historic Places, which unlocks tax credits for redevelopment projects.

In a statement, historic preservation group Historic KC said the building once served as the headquarters of the Western Newspaper Union, whose services supplied thousands of weekly newspapers through the country in the early 1900s.

That allowed small-town publishers to offer national and international news with local content.

“As Kansas City emerged as a transportation and communications hub, the company’s operations expanded here, making the building an important reminder of the city’s role in the dissemination of news in the early twentieth century,” Historic KC said.

More recently, the building has been used for offices and short-term rentals. It was renovated in 2017 with a rehab project that involved historic tax credits, the Kansas City Business Journal reported at the time.

Historic KC is now “urging” the city to deny the proposal to build a data center tower instead.

“Downtown Kansas City has enjoyed sustained growth in recent decades because we found new, people-centered uses for historic buildings,” the statement said. “Demolishing a National Register landmark for a data center tower moves in the opposite direction.”

Historic building vs. data center

Historic KC said the question is not whether data centers belong in Kansas City, but whether demolishing a listed historic building in the heart of downtown is appropriate to make way for a data center.

The group said the revival of downtown Kansas City has been built on redeveloping and reusing historic buildings, transforming former industrial buildings into housing, offices, hotels and restaurants and making historic architecture a defining quality for downtown.

“This peculiar proposal would eliminate the product of successful reinvestment — a building rehabilitated just a decade ago — rather than utilizing one of the many surface parking lots in the vicinity of downtown,” the statement said.

Historic KC said as Kansas City attracts new business and technologies, it should resist the “false choice” between economic development and historic preservation.

City records show the plan remains “under review” by planning officials. A plan commission hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5. The proposal would also be subject to review by the Historic Preservation Commission, which could block demolition for 45 days.

Will the project move forward?

Revitalization Unlimited CEO Steve Austin said in a statement that the company is doing its due diligence required under a zoning law change that happened in early January.

“At this point, it’s too early to tell whether the project can move forward or be funded,” Austin said. “We are taking the necessary steps with the building department and acting in the best interest of our investors. We will know more once the process is complete.

“We believe concerns about environmental impact and noise are premature at this stage. The project is expected to use Bloom Energy fuel cell technology. Any noise would be comparable to standard equipment used in other high-rise buildings,” he said.

If the Western Union Newspaper building becomes a data center, it wouldn’t be the first newspaper-tied property in downtown Kansas City to do so: tech company Patmos has transformed The Star’s former green glass building in the Crossroads into a data center as well.