Luxury hotel overlooking KC’s Plaza, with storied history, is up for sale
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- InterContinental Kansas City hotel listed for sale amid Plaza redevelopment.
- Hotel underwent $16M renovation in 2017, funded partly by sales tax district.
- Zoning change proposed to permit 275-foot building near vacant Plaza lot.
Since its construction in 1972, the luxury hotel overlooking Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza has gone by numerous names:
The Alameda Plaza, the Ritz-Carlton in 1989, The Fairmont in 1999 and, since December 2005, The InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza.
Now its name may soon change again as the 371-room luxury hotel — which, according to the real estate analytics firm CoStar, sold for $99 million nearly 20 years ago — is once again up for sale.
“The property has been marketed, however no transactions have occurred,” Ralph V. Issi confirmed Wednesday. Issi is the vice president of corporate marketing and public affairs for the hotel’s owners, the Procaccianti Companies/TPG Hotels & Resorts.
The InterContinental, located at 401 Ward Parkway, has a storied history in Kansas City.
Overlooking the Plaza from the south, it has long been the stopping off spot for music stars and visiting sports teams. Its room are often booked months, if not a years, in advance for those seeking prime views of the annual Plaza lighting ceremony on Thanksgiving nights.
In 2017, the 11 story hotel also showed off a $16 million-plus makeover of its grand lobby, suites and guest rooms.
That makeover came after the city in 2016 approved a controversial 1-cent community improvement district sales tax, imposed just within the hotel property, to help fund the renovations.
The controversy arose when the hotel sought a “blight” designation. As part of the agreement, the hotel agreed to provide $250,000 over the next seven years to help needy senior citizens with home repairs.
Country Club Plaza changes
The hotel is on the selling block as Kansas Citians await a preliminary plan for the renovation of the 102-year-old Plaza. On July 1, 2024, Dallas-based HP Village Partners, whose name has since been rebranded to be the Village Collection, announced it had purchased the Spanish-style shopping district.
Purchase price: $175.6 million.
Since that time, the Plaza has undergone cosmetic upgrades and a significant increase in security, having hired armed security guards who now have the authority to the hold and detain individuals suspected of crimes and infractions.
A preliminary plan to remake of the Plaza has yet to be put before the city plan commission. Village Collection officials said they expect to do so before the end of 2026, if not sooner.
Most significant to date: the Kansas City City Council on Thursday is set to review an ordinance that would amend zoning codes to allow a building as tall as 275 feet to possibly be constructed on Plaza’s west edge.
The site at 4720 Jefferson St. has been an empty lot for three years. It is where a Nordstrom department store had once been planned until the retailer backed out in 2022.
No tenant for the site has yet to be named. Backers of the ordinance, which would allow a 20-story building, about twice the previous limit, say the height extension is required to attract a long-term tenant.
This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 5:47 PM.
