The Kansas City Power & Light District (sometimes referred to as KC P&L) is a dining, shopping, office, and entertainment district in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, United States, developed by

The Cordish Companies The Cordish Companies (previously The Cordish Company) is a U.S.-based real estate development and entertainment operating company with its headquarters on the 6th floor of the Pratt Street Power Plant in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, and designed by Beyer Blinder Belle and

360 Architecture 360 Architecture was an American architectural practice acquired by HOK in 2015. The firm provided services for a range of project types including corporate headquarters and commercial office buildings, sports arenas, stadiums and ballparks, mun ...

. The district comprises nine blocks on the south side of the downtown loop. It is located between Baltimore Avenue to the west, Grand Boulevard to the east, 12th Street to the north, and Interstate 670 to the south. The $850 million mixed use district is one of the largest development projects in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, and is anchored by the renovated Midland Theatre,

Alamo Drafthouse The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the film, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...

Mainstreet Cinema, and the world headquarters of

H&R Block H&R Block, Inc., or H&R Block, is an American tax preparation company operating in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The company was founded in 1955 in Kansas City, Missouri, by brothers Henry W. Bloch and Richard Bloch. As of 2018, H&R ...

. The district was originally projected to generate enough tax revenue to pay for the bonds that were issued to finance it, but the city has instead relied on its general fund and

refinancing Refinancing is the replacement of an existing debt obligation with another debt obligation under a different term and interest rate. The terms and conditions of refinancing may vary widely by country, province, or state, based on several economic ...

to make debt payments. In 2009, the Power & Light District was the recipient of the

Urban Land Institute The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a global nonprofit research and education organization with regional offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London. ULI aims to help its members and their partners build more equitable, sustainable, heal ...

Award of Excellence for its impact on the revitalization of downtown

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Location

The Power & Light District is immediately to the west of the

T-Mobile Center T-Mobile Center (formerly Sprint Center) is a multi-purpose arena in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It is located at the intersection of 14th Street and Grand Boulevard on the east side of the Power & Light District. It has ef ...

. The district was named after the

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

Kansas City Power and Light Building The Kansas City Power and Light Building (also called the KCP&L Building and the Power and Light Building) is a landmark skyscraper located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It was constructed by Kansas City Power and Light President and Ediso ...

. The headquarters of the Kansas City Power & Light Company (a subsidiary of

Great Plains Energy Great Plains Energy Incorporated was a holding company based in Kansas City, Missouri that owned electric utility Kansas City Power and Light Company and Strategic Energy, LLC, an energy management company. KCP&L established the holding company ...

) is located on the northern side of the district. A one-block entertainment area within the district is called Kansas City Live!, which contains two floors of bars and restaurants, and a large, partially enclosed courtyard and concert venue.

Kansas City Live!

At the center of the Power & Light District is Kansas City Live!, a one block area devoted to live music and entertainment venues. It hosted ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' in 2008, and many professional sports viewing parties for years. The roof system, produced by Structurflex, is made of an Ethylene TetraFluoro Ethylene (

ETFE Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) is a fluorine-based plastic. It was designed to have high corrosion resistance and strength over a wide temperature range. ETFE is a polymer and its source-based name is poly (ethene-co-tetrafluoroethene). It i ...

) single-skin membrane. Construction of the roof began on August 17, 2007. The ground floor of the Kansas City Live! block focuses on bars and restaurants, including McFadden's Sports Saloon, Flying Saucer, Cleaver & Cork, The Dubliner, Johnny's Tavern, Pizza Bar, and County Road Ice House, which is a locally owned partnership between Back Napkin and Joes BBQ. The second floor of Kansas City Live! houses the night clubs and entertainment concepts, including Mosaic Ultra Lounge, Angels Rock Bar, Howl at the Moon, PBR Big Sky, Shark Bar, and No Other Pub, which is a partnership between Cordish and local

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

soccer team

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

Notable tenants

* B&B Theatres Mainstreet Theater - renovated historic theater, shows current movies in six theaters; located at 14th and Main (opened May 1, 2009) *

- world headquarters (opened October 2006) * Hilton President Kansas City - 213-room refurbished historic 1926 hotel, featuring the Drum Room (reopened January 5, 2006) *

Midland Theatre The Midland Theatre is a 3,000-seat theater located in the Power & Light District of Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The National Collegiate Athletic Association under Walter Byers had its headquarters in the building from the 1950s unti ...

- 3,500-person capacity concert and live music venue (reopened September 2008) * PBR Big Sky - country and western bar located at the north end of the Kansas City Live! block at 111 E. 13th St. (opened April 10, 2008)

Residential

Within the Power & Light District, Cordish plans to build four high-end residential towers. On April 22, 2014, Cordish broke ground on the first apartment tower called One Light Luxury Apartments. One Light opened 80% leased on December 8, 2015. The tower is 25 stories tall and connected to the nearby Cosentino's Grocery store and OneLife Fitness gym. Two Light Luxury Apartments opened on May 4, 2018. The 24-story luxury apartment building features 296 units, each with floor-to-ceiling windows. Two Light also includes a 438-space garage, of boutique retail space, and of coworking office space, Spark KC. Three Light's 301 foot tower was completed in September 2023 with 25 stories and 288 units.

Festival license

In 2005, the Cordish Company successfully lobbied the

Missouri General Assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Missouri Senate, Senate and a 163-member Missouri House of Represen ...

for a new law pertaining to any "entertainment district" in Downtown Kansas City to allow patrons to remove any alcoholic beverage from any establishment in the District and carry it openly throughout the portions of the District not open to vehicular traffic, if the beverage is in a plastic cup marked with the logo of the establishment at which it was purchased.Rick Alm, "Drinking to be allowed on street in Power & Light District", ''The Kansas City Star'', July 27, 2005 This is one of only a few places in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with such an open container allowance.

References

External links

Power & Light District Official Website
(Flash only)
Contact Information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kansas City Power and Light District Neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri Culture of Kansas City, Missouri Economy of Kansas City, Missouri Central business districts in the United States Tourist attractions in Kansas City, Missouri Downtown Kansas City The Cordish Companies