The Kansas City Star – Downtown Kansas City, Kan., is tasting a revival
BY KEVIN COLLISON 05/06/2014
Downtown Kansas City, Kan., overshadowed by the more heralded revival of its bigger namesake across the state line, is beginning a modest comeback of its own.
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County has been undoing the ugly 1970s zigzag makeover of Minnesota Avenue that choked traffic and terrorized tires with its sharp steel-edge curbs. It has been replaced by softer landscaping, diagonal parking and a new bus transit center at Seventh Street dominated by the historic Winkler Clock.
The Chamber of Commerce recently renovated its offices at 727 Minnesota Ave. Just around the corner at 824 State Ave., Foutch Bros. recently renovated the old Horace Mann school into 30 apartments. Down the road, at 10th Street and Minnesota, Mayor Mark Holland wants to develop a “healthy campus” anchored by a new YMCA.
Across Minnesota from the spiffed-up chamber building, Loretto Commercial Properties of Prairie Village — a real estate venture founded by Lamar Hunt Jr., a son of the late Chiefs’ founder and owner — is about to tackle the renovation of a couple of old buildings at 730 and 736 Minnesota Ave.