Site search for Barkley advertising agency lands at home

Barkley, a Kansas City-based advertising agency, has signed a new lease that will keep it in the iconic TWA building at 18th and Main streets.

Officials had acknowledged looking for an alternative home in a January report by the Kansas City Business Journal. The decision to stay reflected in part the development of the Crossroads Arts District in the 10 years that Barkley has occupied the site.

“Our company is proud to call the Crossroads home,” Barkley CEO Jeff King said in an announcement. “When we moved here, we saw the potential this area had to become the city’s creative hub. While the Crossroads is already great today, we want to continue to be a contributor to where this vital section of Kansas City is headed tomorrow.”

Brad Nicholson, owner of the four-floor, 136,000-square-foot building, said Barkley’s move there in 2005 acted as a catalyst for further development in the district.

The TWA building sports a 32-foot-tall replica of the former airline’s TWA Moonliner rocket ship, which had been an original attraction at Disneyland in 1955. Serving as Trans World Airlines’ headquarters until 1964, the red-and-white building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Barkley said its new agreement covers the top three floors of the building. An architect is working on renovation plans for Barkley’s space.

Nicholson said he is marketing the first floor, which provides 36,000 square feet of space.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 9:58 AM with the headline "Site search for Barkley advertising agency lands at home."