Country Club Plaza owners answer questions about $1.5 billion redevelopment plan

Update: The plan commission hearing for the Plaza master plan rezoning is expected to be moved to Dec. 17.

Plans for a proposed $1.5 billion revitalization of Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza are moving forward as the district’s owners start seeking incentives and approvals from the necessary agencies around Kansas City that could help bring their vision to life.

One of the biggest pieces waiting for a green light? The Plaza’s new master planning document that will set guardrails and guidelines for what future development could look like, including design standards.

Those documents, which are available to view on the city website, are expected to go before the city’s planning commission in December. The public can submit comments to the city or provide testimony at the upcoming hearing.

Ahead of that, the Plaza’s developers, Gillon Property Group, presented the master plan to over 100 people at a public meeting at Unity Temple on Monday while fielding questions from residents about their proposals.

Some residents expressed reservations about the proposal to relax height limits on some blocks. Others wondered about how redevelopment could impact the area’s character and its existing residents. But many engaged residents and the developers seem to be aligned on the need for improvements to enhance the Plaza and ensure it remains viable.

The Gillon representatives said their vision for the Plaza includes attracting new businesses, adding hotel rooms, building hundreds of new homes and relaxing height restrictions on some blocks on the periphery of the district for possible new construction of taller buildings. The plans also include fixing up the infrastructure and improving the landscape for pedestrians and walkability, particularly with the recent opening of a Plaza streetcar stop.

Gillon owns properties across 10 states and 14 million square feet of retail, office, hotel, mixed-use and multi-family space. Notably, the firm owns Highland Park Village in Dallas, a shopping center that opened in the 1930s that has parallels with the Country Club Plaza.

Dustin Bullard, vice president for partnerships and place, told the crowd that when he first came to Kansas City, he was told not to buy: It’s unsafe, it seems tired, stores are leaving, there are deferred maintenance issues and it’s past its prime.

But Gillon invested because of the Plaza’s meaningful history, its architectural character and walkability and its strong community ties. Bullard said the firm saw an opportunity to help the Plaza evolve, which he emphasized has been happening over time since the district’s beginning. He noted the Plaza once even had gas stations that have since been removed and replaced with new uses.

There are issues that need to be addressed, Bullard said: back-of-the house infrastructure issues, architectural elements that have degraded and many retail spaces that are oversized for the current market, alongside streets that should be better designed for pedestrians.

Sewer and stormwater lines, fire sprinklers, elevators, roofs, water pipes, air conditioning, parking infrastructure have all aged past their useful life, he said. Trees that once lined the streets are gone.

Gillon now plans to preserve, enhance and evolve the Plaza. They have to create dynamic public spaces, such as by boosting outdoor dining and building a public square that would be a “plaza within the Plaza,” Bullard said.

The Plaza needs vibrancy, Bullard said. It has a great identity and sense of place, but it can be enhanced, he said.

“Otherwise I will be back in front of this room in five years, and you will ask me why the Plaza seems dead,” he said. “You will ask me why I’m not attracting retailers.”

The developers are seeking a mix of tenants with a blend of price points and have eyed bringing some kind of grocery option for area residents alongside other types of retailers, while aiming for extended business hours.

Above all, they say they’re in it for the long haul.

Bullard said the developers will be surgical about height to add new uses, and taller buildings will not happen tomorrow. They would need further discussions, city reviews and approvals. The master planning documents would outline standards for new construction to make sure it fits the Plaza’s character — meaning no glass towers — while the developers strive to make best use of space that is currently vacant or occupied by a parking garage.

The Plaza owners have already invested in items like improving security and lighting and restoring buildings while announcing several new tenants to fill vacant storefronts.

The developers are eyeing incentives from the Port Authority of Kansas City and the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City that would help support the costs of redevelopment, particularly infrastructure costs.

Conceptual plans presented so far could include bringing in new office space, 750 new residential units and 278 new hotel rooms. Those concepts are still being refined.

The planning commission is expected to review the master plan rezoning Dec. 17, which will include opportunity for public comment. Petitions with over 600 signatures total have been filed with the city to oppose relaxing height limits on some of the blocks.

The City Council has already approved a change that would allow building up to 275 feet the southwest corner of 47th Street and Jefferson Street, a vacant site that was once eyed for a Nordstrom store before those plans fell through a few years ago.

Certain other blocks could see a range of relaxed height limits up to 200 feet on some.

This story was originally published November 28, 2025 at 6:09 AM.