Taller buildings, private sidewalks in the Plaza? City Council could soon vote

Many months in the making, the Country Club Plaza’s new owners are closer to a City Council vote over new rules and standards for future development in the iconic shopping district — including the heights of new buildings — but some outstanding issues remain.

On Tuesday, the council’s finance committee discussed Gillon Property Group’s proposal that would set design and architecture standards for future development in the Plaza. A separate proposal would privatize its sidewalks.

City staff and developers have worked on a final version of the design standards aimed at maintaining the Plaza’s Spanish-style look and vibes while offering flexibility for future development and tenants taking over storefronts, officials said.

“We bought the Plaza because it is an amazing place to be and has an architectural lineage that we want to enhance,” said Dustin Bullard, vice president of partnerships and place with Gillon.

Plaza plan many months in the making

The Plaza came under new ownership in 2024. Since then, Gillon has worked on improving its security and infrastructure, signing new tenants and restoring elements like the carillon bells on Giralda Tower.

But much work remains to fix up the Plaza infrastructure and utilities above and below the ground while addressing what the developers say are streets that are too wide for pedestrians and storefronts that have been changed over the years and no longer match.

Their broader billion-dollar-plus plan involves building taller buildings, making the Plaza more pedestrian-friendly and bringing new residents who would actually live on the Plaza and bring new foot traffic to potential future businesses and amenities.

Some open issues over the design standards remain for the City Council to sort out, however.

In particular, the plan commission previously recommended that building heights be limited to 120 feet on two blocks along Ward Parkway at Central Street and at Pennsylvania Avenue, but the developers are requesting to bump those back up to 178 feet and 150 feet, respectively.

And the developers have asked, if the plan commission approves future development plans but adds special conditions and restrictions to what can be built, that the developers can appeal to the City Council.

Residents express concerns about taller buildings in the Plaza

Some area residents continue to express concerns about the proposed changes, including over height. They would like height limits to hew more closely to the “Plaza bowl” concept, or the current set-up of taller buildings around the edges with shorter buildings in the core.

Some organizers have called for shorter height limits as a compromise and more room for public input over proposed development in the future.

“The city leadership has always been there to guide complicated development on the Plaza without making huge mistakes,” said Vicky Noteis, president of preservation group Historic KC. “I think if this goes through with these heights and no way to correct them later, this could be an unfixable 100-year mistake.”

Over the past several months, some residents have also expressed concerns about parking, neighborhood scale and character, traffic, the lack of more specific plans from Gillon and making changes to previous design guidelines that themselves went through public input.

But other Plaza-area residents and others involved with the district support the proposed design changes.

“The loud minority who is in opposition are not emblematic of the young owners and the people who will be living in the city for many years and are excited to see a more modern Plaza,” said resident Rebecca Paige.

Paige said there have already been improvements in safety and infrastructure under Gillon’s ownership.

The finance committee is expected to take a vote on the proposed design standards at a future meeting ahead of a final vote by the full City Council.

Privatizing the Plaza’s sidewalks

The committee also held voting on Gillon’s proposal to privatize sidewalks on the Plaza, giving the company more control over their use. The sidewalks along Mill Creek Parkway and Ward Parkway would remain public.

How that would work, Bullard said, is that security or other staff would ask for compliance from people who are violating the Plaza’s code of conduct. If they don’t, that could escalate to the police department, and the police would have the discretion to manage the situation.

The plan commission previously moved the private sidewalk proposal forward with the condition that there never be checkpoints or controlled access that would prevent 24/7 pedestrian access, among other conditions.

But on Tuesday, Councilmember Crispin Rea of the Fourth District At-Large, said the proposal presents First Amendment concerns for him, such as how they would impact a protest or a reporter.

More committee discussion on both proposals will follow at a future meeting.

The discussion Tuesday was unrelated to pending Gillon proposals for tax breaks and incentives to help cover future development. One would need final approval by the City Council, while the other would see a vote by the Port Authority of Kansas City.