Kansas City is rolling. Keep up the momentum with a new performing arts center hotel

I recently advised Kansas City’s new mayor to take a page out of my book and go wherever there’s a problem — then find a way to fix it.

During my tenure as mayor from 1971 to 1979, we opened Kansas City International Airport and built both Kemper Arena and Bartle Hall. Today, we have a booming city, and we need to keep the momentum rolling if we want to compete with other growing cities such as Denver and Nashville.

I attend weekly meetings of the City Council, and I applaud the skill of Mayor Quinton Lucas and our current council in dealing with tax increment financing or TIF legislation. I was in the Missouri Senate, where I worked with former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes when other TIFs were passed. And there is a new project under consideration right now that is as worthy as any I’ve ever seen.

The new Hotel Bravo, proposed to be built adjacent to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, would be a unique upscale hotel. It is planned for the empty lot east of the acclaimed arts venue that has already become a downtown landmark. The land where it would sit is currently owned by a nonprofit foundation — and therefore it generates no taxes for the city now.

Whitney Kerr Sr., a visionary who originally assembled the land upon which the Kauffman Center sits, and Eric Holtze, a hotel developer with 34 years of experience in Denver and Kansas City, want to use TIF financing to build a very special 143-room hotel that would compete with the best other cities have to offer. Under this arrangement, part of the project's future property taxes would be diverted back to the developers to offset their costs.

The Performing Arts Center hotel would match the world-class architecture and ambiance of the Kauffman Center, and would become an oasis to the east for crowds coming from the venue and the artists who perform there. It would also bring Hyatt International, with its worldwide reach, to the Kansas City market.

This hotel will not be asking the city to build a parking garage. Rather, it would become a customer for the existing city-owned Arts District Garage, which sits nearly empty much of the time. Parking revenues from hotel guests are predicted to be $400,000 per year, which the hotel would pay to the city over the 23 years of the TIF. If bonded, that could create $6 million cash up front for city leaders to use on their chosen priorities, from affordable housing to free bus rides or whatever they choose.

But the best part? It never stops producing money for the city. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

I’m happy to discuss the merits of this project with anyone. This hotel would set a new precedent, one that builds on Kansas City’s momentum. It would create something from nothing, because right now the lot sits empty. The parking garage sits empty.

When I see a problem like this, I want to fix it. Hotel Bravo is the solution.

This story was originally published December 25, 2019 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Kansas City is rolling. Keep up the momentum with a new performing arts center hotel."