Kansas City medical school gets first-stage approval to raze apartments for campus expansion

The Kansas City Plan Commission on Tuesday approved a Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience expansion plan that involves demolishing apartments on its campus.

The proposal was fast-tracked for consideration Wednesday by the Kansas City Council’s Planning, Zoning and Economic Development committee.

Preservationists had fought to stop the demolition, but commissioners on a 4-1 vote approved the school’s request to remove the Colonial Court apartments and other residential properties it owns from the Pendleton Heights Historic district overlay, which might have granted historic protection.

School representatives testified that the property was needed for campus expansion and that it wouldn’t be economically feasible to rehabilitate the five vacant apartment buildings. The school is paying to save two houses by relocating them in the neighborhood.

This story was originally published May 16, 2017 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Kansas City medical school gets first-stage approval to raze apartments for campus expansion."