Capacity nine city block area Owner Cordish Company | Built 2005 - 2008 | |
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Location 1100 Walnut Street
Suite 3000
Kansas City, Missouri 64106 Type Mixed-use retail, entertainment, office, and residential development Opened First tenant opened November 9, 2007 | ||
The Kansas City Power & Light District or Power & Light District or P&L is a dining, shopping, office and entertainment district in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, United States, developed by The Cordish Companies of Baltimore, Maryland and designed by Beyer Blinder Belle and 360 Architecture. 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, and is anchored by the renovated Midland Theatre, Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet Cinema and the world headquarters of H&R Block.
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In 2009 the Power & Light District was the recipient of the Urban Land Institute Award of Excellence for its impact on the revitalization of downtown Kansas City.
Location
The Power & Light District is immediately to the west of the Sprint Center. The district was named after the art deco Kansas City Power and Light Building. The present headquarters of the Kansas City Power & Light Company (a subsidiary of Great Plains Energy) is also located on the northern side of the district. A one-block entertainment area within the district is called Kansas City Live!, and contains two floors of bars and restaurants, as well as a large, partially enclosed courtyard and concert venue.
Kansas City Live!
At the heart of the Power & Light District is Kansas City Live!, a one block area devoted to live music and entertainment venues. At the center of Kansas City Live! is a covered outdoor plaza to be used for concerts. The roof system, produced by Structurflex, is made of an Ethylene TetraFluoro Ethylene (ETFE) 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, Cleaver & Cork, The Dubliner, Johnny's Tavern, Pizza Bar and Gordon Biersch Brewing Company. 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, Hotel Nightclub, and Shark Bar.
The Kansas City Live! area of the Power & Light District was showcased before a television audience twice during May 2008. American Idol finalist David Cook played a short set from the Kansas City Live! stage on May 9, 2008, which aired during the television show the following week. The same location also hosted the official watch party for the final episode of the 2008 season, which featured a live television feed from the Power & Light District.
The Kansas City Live! block received national attention once again for its World Cup watch parties in 2010 and 2014.
Notable Tenants
†- located in Kansas City Live!
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 officially 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.
In March 2016 construction began on the second residential tower, Two Light Luxury Apartments, which is planned to have 24 stories and 296 units.
Festival License
In 2005, the Cordish Company successfully lobbied the Missouri General Assembly for a new law pertaining to any "entertainment district" in Downtown Kansas City which will 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, provided that the beverage is in a plastic cup marked with the logo of the establishment at which it was purchased. The Power & Light District is one of only a few places in the United States with such an open container allowance (along with the city of Butte, Montana, the Las Vegas Strip, the city of New Orleans, Key West, Florida, the Arts and Entertainment District of Huntsville, Alabama, Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, and the historic district of downtown Savannah, Georgia).