Neighbors staved off KC apartment demolitions, but redevelopment could be coming

Officials with Kansas City Life Insurance have sought the city’s help to build new apartments off of Southwest Trafficway on property the company wants to demolish.

Records show that KC Life, which is based in Midtown and owns many properties in the historic Valentine neighborhood, filed a request in April for a meeting with the city’s development assistance team, which offers informal discussion with developers about plans ahead of a formal application to the city to start building.

The early plan would involve demolishing two existing, century-old colonnades at 3623-3629 Summit Street/Southwest Trafficway and replacing them with five new buildings, in a “colonnade court,” that would add 30 new units of housing. The existing structures have fallen into disrepair, and the company has said they are dangerous and that restoring them would not be economically viable.

KC Life officials have also outlined an early vision for new homes on vacant properties throughout the neighborhood.

The city’s historic preservation commission paused demolition of the colonnades in February under the city’s new demolition delay rules, which can temporarily spare historic buildings from the wrecking ball to give officials time to consider an alternative.

Ultimately, the demolition on the still-standing buildings could have moved forward on April 14, which would allow KC Life to pursue the colonnade court plan. The proposal calls for five new buildings to be laid out like the Roanoke Court Apartments to the south, without facing the trafficway. They would include new soundproofing construction methods.

KC Life told The Star that the first steps to development would be engineering and architectural drawings, which the company is planning to start as soon as early 2026.

But now there’s a snag: The demolitions have been paused again after the Valentine Neighborhood Association filed a request in April to create a new Norman School Historic District, a 14-acre area that would include the two colonnades up for demolition. The proposed historic district would fall between 35th Street, Valentine Road, Southwest Trafficway and Pennsylvania Avenue.

With the historic nomination, the neighborhood association hopes to encourage KC Life to either renovate its properties in the area or sell them to somebody who would not demolish them. A building in a historic district has stronger protections against demolition, which could be delayed for up to three years.

“We believe that local historic designation is the only way to preserve this vulnerable area from further demolitions by Kansas City Life,” the neighborhood association has said.

KC Life owns dozens of properties in the Midtown area, near its headquarters on Broadway Boulevard, and Valentine residents have raised concerns over demolitions and land left vacant for years. They mourned and protested last fall after KC Life pursued demolition of more than 20 homes in another part of the neighborhood before the city’s new demolition delay rules took effect, leaving entire blocks largely empty without an announced plan for their redevelopment.

The company said the timeline to construct the new colonnade court on Summit Street could be subject to change.

“For instance, if demo permits on our property are delayed in the near term due to factors such as the Norman School Historic District, development could be delayed for years, affecting the long-term progression of this plan to bring much needed density to the area,” KC Life said. “We are hopeful that will not be the case so that we can move forward with bringing this plan to life for the neighborhood.”

The historic nomination would need to be approved by the City Council. KC Life owns a handful of properties in the proposed area, alongside other homeowners. With the nomination, demolition of the two colonnades is delayed until October, or until the City Council makes a decision.

Two other proposed demolitions of KC Life-owned buildings, one on Summit Street and one of Jefferson Street, have also been paused as a result.

KC Life is also seeking the city’s approval to remove 435-41 Knickerbocker Place, which the company owns, from the Ambassador Hotel historic district. City staff recommended the change. The properties are currently vacant after two buildings there were demolished in 2012.

KC Life has no short-term plans for 435-41 Knickerbocker, but it is part of a long-term plan to redevelop the company’s Midtown real estate, the company said.