In recent weeks, Gillon Property Group, the Plaza’s owners, submitted plans to the City that will lay the foundation for the future of the landmark neighborhood. The submission came just a few weeks after the City of Kansas City approved a height limit increase on the failed Nordstrom site to allow a building of up to 275ft to be constructed there.

The “Master Planned Development” (MPD) application featured a map that included several additional high-rise development sites beyond Nordstrom. The former Hall’s building (now a parking garage with tenants such as Apple, Rally House and Lens Crafters), former Palace Movie Theater, former Forever 21 store, the Commerce Bank block, and the southwest portion of the Plaza Time Building are all shown as properties with height limits that far exceed those most people could possibly deem “appropriate” for the Plaza.

The MPD guideline document describes the following as heights for buildings on those parcels:

• Seville West (failed Nordstrom): 275ft
• Former Hall’s: 200ft
• Former Forever 21: 200ft
• Commerce Bank Block: 200ft
• Plaza Time: 175ft
• Seville East (former movie theater): 150ft

While this doesn’t necessarily mean that a total of 6 new high-rises will be constructed on the Plaza, it would give the owners options for developments of different types and scale for decades into the future. Each mentioned site doesn’t contribute that much to the historic feel of the Plaza (non-contributing structures) meaning their replacement for a higher usage is warranted if the owner determined as such.

So why do I bring up West Palm Beach’s CityPlace? In short, there are parallels between how Related Ross (an offshoot of New York-based Related Companies) and Gillon Property Group think about their respective assets.

I first visited CityPlace in an early 2022 trip to Southeast Florida and have stopped by whenever I’ve taken Brightline to West Palm Beach. Over the past few years, the face of the development has changed from one that resembled what Country Club Plaza is today to something the Plaza could become.

Infrastructure Enhancements

When walking, or driving, through CityPlace, you see nicely landscaped streets and sidewalks with no curbs and paved with bricks. None of the streets within the development are too wide with parallel parking keeping the streets narrow enough to warrant a natural speed limit.

For Country Club Plaza, the owners are contemplating narrowing streets, introducing heavier landscaping packages, curbless streets, new medians, new roundabouts, and enhanced crosswalks to make the Plaza a more enjoyable place to walk around and explore. The desired plans differ from UrbanLab KC’s concept from a few years ago that showed Nichols Road being turned into a pedestrian-only zone.

New Buildings Replace Old

Related Ross’s plans for CityPlace are far more ambitious than what Gillon will do at Country Club Plaza, yet they sort of paint a picture at what new construction can look like with existing, “contributing” structures.

For 575 Rosemary, Related demolished a former Macy’s and replaced it with a 21-story apartment tower with over 300 apartments and 19,000sf of new retail space. 575 Rosemary opened in 2024. Across the street, Related demolished a 2-story retail building and broke ground on 15 CityPlace, a 26-story, 485,000sf office tower. Next door, at 10 CityPlace, an additional 19-story office tower with 468,000sf of office space will be built in the future.

In Kansas City, the changes brought on my any new construction at the failed Nordstrom site would be equally transformational, but would differ. In West Palm Beach, high-rises with modern designs dominate the surroundings. In Kansas City, it was previously stated, with sketches shared, that any new building at the Nordstrom site would be designed to reflect the character people love about the Plaza. What’s less clear is the intent for the other potential future high-rises, though I suspect that those will also relate to the Plaza’s design language and reject an all-glass design.

Like CityPlace though, I expect each new building pursued at the Plaza to include new retail and restaurant space.

Transit Connections

CityPlace is directly connected to Southeast Florida’s successful “Brightline” train, which connects Orlando to Miami. It’s the closest thing CityPlace has to being on a major transit line, but they (both Related and Brightline) managed to integrate the station directly into their neighborhood.

In Kansas City, the Plaza now has the Streetcar, which opened just a few weeks ago. Unlike Brightline, which shuttles people from city-to-city, the Streetcar connects multiple bus lines and neighborhoods on one free central route. The stop at the Plaza will likely become one of the most used stops on the modern Streetcar system. But weaving it into the fabric of the neighborhood will take some time.

While Gillon apparently did not respond to the City of Kansas City’s request for proposals (RFP) for the Plaza Tennis Courts, whatever does eventually sprout up there will do the heavy lifting of connecting the Streetcar more-or-less seamlessly to the Plaza itself. While the Plaza was constructed as a place where visitors could arrive by car and park in any number of garages, the future Plaza will likely equally rely on people arriving via transit, bike, or foot. Additional residential developments in the surrounding neighborhoods will also mean more foot traffic.

This means both transit and infrastructure enhancements go hand-in-hand in creating a new Plaza that appeals to everyone no matter how they arrive.

A Focus on Neighborhood Amenities

CityPlace features a Publix Grocery store and will eventually receive an Equinox Health Club, both are things that cab be branded as “neighborhood amenities”. For those unfamiliar, such businesses add to the quality of life of any particular neighborhood. If you have a gym membership, you can easily access it and also pick up groceries on your way home.

In the case of the Plaza, the surrounding neighborhoods already have much on the front of neighborhood amenities. Whole Foods is at 51st and Brookside. “Chiefs Fit” is located at 47th and Jefferson. Several banks have branches in the neighborhood. But none of this doesn’t mean the Plaza can’t expand on the concept and add more to bring more local neighborhood residents down on a recurring basis. In fact, this is exactly what the owners stated was one of their intents shortly after acquiring the Plaza.

The Plaza will still have shops that serve as regional draws, and the Plaza itself will still be a tourist draw, but having services for local residents can definitely lead to a more vibrant neighborhood that draws people more hours of the day.

Conclusion

It’s likely that the coming months will bring us renderings and more firm plans showing off Gillon’s vision for the future of Country Club Plaza. When they do, they’ll certainly create a point of discussion for neighborhood residents, residents of the City and region, and others.

One thing’s clear though and that’s the Plaza will survive well-past any of our lifetimes. The neighborhood continues to reinvent itself and appeals to a wide-range of people.

“The Future of the Plaza” is a KC Pulse series that’ll highlight Country Club Plaza’s present and future across multiple posts. As additional plans are made public, additional posts will be written and shared detailing each plan.