Plaza developers wanted taller heights, construction fast-track. KC tweaks plan

The new owners of the Country Club Plaza notched another significant city approval as they pursue a vision to bring taller buildings and new residents to the historic district and seek to make it more vibrant over the next decade.

After weeks of anticipation and two public hearings, the City Plan Commission voted to recommend master planning documents on Wednesday that set out design guidelines and zoning guardrails for how Gillon Property Group’s future redevelopment of the Plaza will play out.

The plans the commission approved reduce the height limits to lower than the developers had initially requested but higher than they currently are, and include protections for historic architecture in the Plaza. And they require the commission votes on any new buildings.

The City Council will have final approval at a later date.

“This is the most robust MPD we’ve seen in any of our tenure, and it’s warranted. It’s a site that people care about and it’s an important site economically, culturally, historically,” said plan commissioner Tyler Enders. “A lot of the questions that were brought up today, there are no right answers, probably, and it depends upon your perspective.”

Enders emphasized there will be more opportunity for discussion as the plan moves to City Council and encouraged people to reach out to their council members if they disagreed with the commission’s decision.

Taller buildings, more oversight

Notably, the current version of the master plan allows for taller buildings to be built on some outer blocks, though not as high as the developer originally requested. Following discussions and negotiations with city officials, allowed heights on those blocks will range between 120 feet and 178 feet.

Gillon had previously requested heights of up to 200 feet on some blocks. Taller buildings would need to be set back further from the street on higher floors.

That’s in addition to the separately and previously approved relaxed height limit of 275 feet for one block, the site at Nichols and Jefferson roads, where a plan for a Nordstrom’s store fell through a few years ago.

Beyond the heights, the documents approved Wednesday say the city plan commission would get a vote over construction of new buildings or major changes to the facade of existing buildings with a public hearing, allowing opportunities for feedback from residents. A previous version of the plan would have had looser requirements on new construction.

And there would be protections that call for preserving historic architectural elements or salvaging them if something is demolished, among many other standards the developers will need to follow.

Gillon’s ambitious plan looks to bring hundreds of new residential units and hotel rooms to the Plaza while attracting new businesses and fixing up utility infrastructure that’s in serious need of repair. The developers also hope to make the Plaza more pedestrian-friendly and bring in a new “plaza on the Plaza” while making better use of its space and maintaining its unique feel.

They say the Plaza needs more feet on the street to support future retail and dining on the Plaza in the current business environment.

On Wednesday, neighborhood residents and organizers expressed various concerns over building height, density, neighborhood character and scale, traffic, street parking, shadows cast by taller buildings and the lack of more specific plans.

Next steps

The City Council will take a vote on the master plan at a later date.

The developers are also seeking incentives from the Port Authority of Kansas City and the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City that would provide financial support for the project in the form of tax breaks and redirections; those plans have yet to be finally approved by the relevant governing bodies.

The proposed Port KC incentives would include property tax exemptions. The last publicized proposal would give the owners $309 million in property tax breaks over 30 years, while they would make $121 million in payments to taxing jurisdictions, like the school district, during that period of time.

The school district has publicly opposed that proposal and called it “malpractice.”

The developers have also floated taking control of sidewalk right-of-way from the city; that proposal is being handled through a separate planning case which is expected to be heard later this month.

This story was originally published December 17, 2025 at 5:15 PM.