Kansas City Power and Light Building

The Kansas City Power & Light Building is a leading historic landmark in the city’s Power & Light District. The building was constructed in 1931 and served as the headquarters for the Kansas City Power & Light Company for six decades. The building’s Art Deco style and ornate rooftop lantern quickly made it a Kansas City icon, and to this day, the lantern appears as a symbol within logos for the Power & Light District. KCP&L occupied the first nineteen floors of the building's thirty-six stories when their new headquarters was complete, renting the other half until 1957, when they sold the property and became a tenant. The company continued to rent space here until 1991. In 2014, the KCP&L Building was sold after its last tenant left. The historic office tower underwent refurbishments and reopened in 2016 as a luxury apartment complex. The building was the tallest in Missouri for nearly fifty years and remains the fourth-tallest in the city.

The Kansas City Power & Light Company (originally known as the Kawsmouth Electric Light Company) was established in 1882 when it opened the first electric power plant in Kansas City. The company struggled to compete against multiple rival electric companies in the area in its early years but survived thanks to its work to provide consistent power to the city’s growing system of electric trolley lines. The company began to prosper after building the Northeast Power Station in 1921. Today the KCP&L services over 18,000 square miles in Kansas and Missouri, providing electricity to 800,000 residents. Originally the company’s offices were scattered in various locations around the city. In 1930, KCP&L President Joseph Franklin Porter decided to consolidate all the offices together by building a single company headquarters.

The popular architectural firm of Hoit, Price, and Barnes was commissioned to design a building for the KCP&L. The firm was noted for designing multiple structures in Kansas City during the 1920s and 1930s, including the R. A. Long Residence (now the Kansas City Museum) and the Fidelity Nation Bank & Trust Building. Construction of the KCP&L Building began in 1930 and was completed in 1931 by the Swenson Construction Company. It was built in the new Art Deco style that included Indiana limestone and elaborate ornamentation on the exterior. It also notably featured a six-story lantern tower on the top. A series of color-changing copper floodlights illuminated the building at night and gave it the appearance of a flickering candle.

At 32 stories and 479 feet tall, the KCP&L Building was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until 1962, when the Space Needle was built in Seattle. It remained the tallest building in Missouri until 1976. KCP&L occupied the first nineteen floors of the building and rented out the remainder to various tenants in the early years. In 1957, the company sold the building but leased thirteen floors for continued use. In 2002, the KCP&L Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The KCP&L Company left the building for good in 1991 and relocated its headquarters elsewhere. In 2014, the building lost its last tenant, and this was not the only massive building that was vacant prior to downtown's ongoing revival. Soon afterward, NorthPoint Development Co. purchased the building for $10 million, announcing a $70 million project to convert the building into a luxury apartment complex. Renovations were designed by NSPJ Architects and completed in 2016. Now known as Power & Light Apartments, the building includes over 200 apartment units and a plethora of amenities for tenants. The original exterior floodlights were replaced with LED lighting as part of the refurbishments. The old floodlights were refurbished into light fixtures for the Beacon Lounge bar.

41 Action News. “Taste & See KC: Power & Light Building stands as a beacon of art deco extravagance” (video). Posted July 25, 2017. Accessed June 23, 2018. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=06uoHEB02qQ

Alonzo, Austin. “My Favorite Building: Power & Light Building.” Kansas City Business Journal. December 5, 2013. Accessed June 23, 2018. https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2013/12/05/kansas-city-power-and-light-building.html

Ambler, Cathy and Sally Schwenk. “Kansas City Power and Light Company Building.” National Park Service – National Register of Historic Places. 2002. Accessed June 23, 2018. https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/88001852.pdf

Collison, Kevin. “Kansas City’s Iconic Power & Light Building Reborn As Downtown Luxury Apartments.” KCUR. July 18, 2016. Accessed June 23, 2018. http://kcur.org/post/kansas-citys-iconic-power-light-building-reborn-downtown-luxury-apartments#stream/0  

Gose, Joe. “Would-Be Landlords Covet a Landmark.” New York Times. July 3, 2012. Accessed June 23, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/realestate/commercial/kansas-citys-power-and-light-building-awaits-new-role.html

“History.” Power & Light Apartments. Accessed June 23, 2018. https://www.powerandlightkc.com/history/

Lee, Janice. “Kansas City Power & Light Building.” The Kansas City Public Library. Accessed June 23, 2018. http://pendergastkc.org/article/buildings-orgs/kansas-city-power-light-building

Stafford, Diane. “A look inside the renovation of Kansas City’s historic KCP&L tower.” Kansas City Star. July 7, 2016. Accessed June 23, 2018. http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/development/article88164047.html

wpengine. “Power and Light Apartments Mixes Old with New for Downtown KC Living.” NSPJ Architects. August 23, 2016. Accessed June 23, 2018. https://nspjarch.com/power-and-light-mixes-old-with-new-for-downtown-kc-living/

Images: https://www.powerandlightkc.com/history/