Will Embassy Suites near KC's Plaza be imploded? Here's what we know
What’s certain is that the 50-year-old Embassy Suites by Hilton hotel near the Country Club Plaza will soon be demolished.
What’s possible is that it may be demolished by implosion — set with explosives that are ignited in sequence, allowing the 12-story building to fold in upon itself as it kicks up a plume of dust and debris.
“That is one option that has been presented,” Lindsey Stich, the senior manager of media relations for the building’s owner, Saint Luke’s Health System, confirmed Thursday. “But nothing has been decided yet.”
Built in 1976, the Embassy Suites is a 266-room hotel that closed on Sept. 15, 2025, following the expiration of the hotel operator’s ground lease after the operator determined that the hotel was “functionally inoperable.”
Known for its soaring, 12-story atrium, interior greenery, fountains and touches of Spanish style, the hotel at 220 W. 43rd St. was erected on a nearly two-acre plot of land that has belonged to Saint Luke’s since 1971. The hospital’s main campus is located just to the south.
Saint Luke’s looked into other uses for the building, a spokesperson told The Star previously, including converting it to multifamily apartments or senior housing. But safety risks and the high costs of maintaining an “inoperative” building, prompted the hospital system to seek demolition.
A pre-demolition permit was issued by the city in October. On Dec. 18, Industrial Salvage & Wrecking Co., Inc., of Kansas City was issued a full demolition permit. On implosion projects, the company works in partnership with CDI, Controlled Demolition, Inc., of Phoenix, Maryland.
The most recent building to be imploded in Kansas City, also by CDI, was the nine-story Weld Wheel building, 933 Mulberry St., in the West Bottoms as part of the area’s $527 million redevelopment by Nashville and New York-based SomeraRoad, Inc.
No date has been set for the Embassy Suites’ demolition, although it is anticipated to occur in the first half of 2026.
Once demolition is complete, Stich said, Saint Luke’s intends to use the site for additional hospital parking, until a long-term plan is developed.
A long-term plan for the site has yet to be determined, Stich said.
