‘So much potential’: 113-year-old KC building off Troost Ave. could get new life

A distinctive vacant brick building off Troost Avenue in Kansas City could be saved and once again house neighbors and local business.

The owners of what’s known as the Bancroft Apartments, 4301 Troost Ave., are seeking local historic status for the three-story building, which was built around 1913. An adjacent building that was once used as a theater is not part of the historic status application.

Local historic status would help document the building’s history and add new protections and regulations over what can be done to the structure. On Friday, the city’s historic preservation commission voted to recommend the historic status for the Bancroft, part of a multi-step process that includes final City Council approval at a later date.

The Bancroft serves as an example of a mixed-use building — with commercial space on the ground floor and apartments up top — and architectural style from the early 20th century. It’s currently vacant and appears to have suffered some damage, but many of its historic fixtures and elements are intact.

The building is owned by Cornerstone Rentals, LLC, according to city records. Heritage Consulting Group is working with the owner to formulate a plan to rehabilitate the building using historic tax credits, senior project coordinator Mason Martel told The Star.

The local level application is the first step and will be followed by a nomination for the full National Register of Historic Places. That could unlock tax credits that would help cover the costs to rehab the building for reuse.

“The building really has good bones,” Martel said. The project is still in the planning stages, and the timeline is still being worked out.

The prospect of a rehab for the Bancroft Apartments is good news for Emma Ludwig, who lives nearby and runs a community pottery studio across the street.

“I think Kansas City has so much potential with these beautiful old brick buildings that deserve their day in the sun again,” she said.

Ludwig’s studio, called Letter Cat Studio, has been in its current location since last summer. She said she would like to see affordable apartments in the big brick building across the street alongside local small businesses that would be useful for the neighborhood: perhaps a bookstore or a clothing shop.

According to application documents, many similar mixed-use apartment buildings along Troost have been demolished, leaving the Bancroft as a rare example of its kind in the corridor.

If officially made historic and then rehabbed, the Bancroft would stand in contrast to recent examples of struggling buildings in the midtown area like the Jeserich Building, 3041 Main St., which has been demolished.