KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council voted Thursday to begin an effort to restore the once-grand Federal Reserve building on Grand Avenue in the city’s downtown.
The council approved an ordinance that directs KCMO City Manager Mario Vasquez to begin the receivership process “for the vacant nuisance property known as the former Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.”
The building closed in 2008 and neglect followed the closure, according to a docket memo to the city council that lays out problems with the building.
You can read the docket memo below.
“The site’s vacancy and nuisance conditions directly and increasingly depreciate the value of nearby properties and depress regional commercial activity; and residents and property owners near the site lament the nearly two decades of inactivity and decomposition, citing both aesthetic and security concerns involving the site's crumbling exterior, graffiti covering the interior, broken glass and refuse strewn throughout, exposed ceilings with materials left dangling, an unsecured elevator shaft, and the site's serving as a haven for squatting, fires, and other chronic nuisance activities; and the city has received multiple reports of property violations at the site over time, including falling debris and people entering through unsecured entrances, and the current developer's failure to prevent and remediate these nuisances violates Code of Ordinances Sections 48-31 and 48-46(c), among other provisions.”
A developer bought the site in 2013, and the city approved a financial incentive deal in 2016 for the developer to build a 284-room hotel, a 450-space parking garage and a 40,000-square-foot family entertainment center.
The cost of the development was estimated at $182 million, but after investing $42 million in asbestos removal and interior demolition by April 2021, no other progress has been made on the project.
In 2022, the current developer got a temporary restraining order to avoid foreclosure after a default notice "alleging failure to maintain property insurance, unpaid property taxes, and outstanding mechanic's liens,” according to a docket memo.
KSHB 41 News reached out to Alicia Brady, an Iowa-based photographer whose work includes photographs of the building’s decay.
“I was thrilled to learn that the mayor came across my post and photographs and that they helped spark action toward getting the former Federal Reserve building back on track for rehabilitation,” Brady said in an email to KSHB 41 News. “As someone who has been documenting abandoned and historic buildings since I was 15 years old, it's incredibly rewarding to know that my work may have played a small part in preserving such an important piece of Kansas City's history.”
KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas posted on LinkedIn about Thursday’s council action.
“Since 2008, the old Federal Reserve Bank building has sat empty, left open to the elements, vandals, fires, neglect and decay,” Mayor Lucas said. “ No more. We’re taking action to ensure accountability from property owners and new life in this tower in the heart of our downtown.”
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