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PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2024
As the end of 2024 approaches, people in the Kansas City region can look back on a year of business growth, a year of exceptional achievement in sports, and a year of historic changes in health care, logistics and banking. In short, a year of prosperity and growth. From billion-dollar mergers to billion-dollar real-estate developments, there was no shortage of change that will truly prove to be transformational.
At a few low points, it was also a year of tragedy and loss. Perhaps none of those lows would prove more painful and poignant than Valentine’s Day 2024 when a citywide celebration of its football team’s achievement was in an instant marred by gunfire and death. The community response to that showed what Kansas Citians are truly made of: More than $2 million was raised to benefit the family of a woman killed in that melee and two dozen other victims wounded by indiscriminate gunfire.
Elsewhere, the year’s progress throughout 2024 was occasionally marked by reminders that those most responsible for building Kansas City into what it is are only with us for a while. The year saw the deaths of:
• Don Hall Sr., an extraordinary philanthropist who had built his father’s greeting-card company into a global enterprise.
• Pat Curran, who leveraged his savvy as an investor into an ownership stake in Sporting Kansas City and helped the city make a valid claim to being the Soccer Capital of the World.
• Charles Garney, whose one-man plumbing company became a national power in municipal waste and water-system construction before he flexed his commercial-development muscles in the Northland.
• Pat Ottensmeyer, who helped orchestrate the $31 billion deal that folded Kansas City Southern Railway into Canadian Pacific Kansas City in 2021.
• William “Doc” Worley, a veterinarian by training who became one of the region’s most successful serial entrepreneur as a newspaper and magazine publisher, restaurant owner, companies in environmental services, self-storage and one-hour photo site, and a figure on many civic boards.
• And Sister Berta Sailer, who in 1971 co-founded Operation Breakthrough, now one of the most prominent youth development programs in the city.
January
23 More than 20 years after the development boom began there, western Wyandotte County demonstrates its continuing appeal for new projects with the $150 million Margaritaville Hotel, which broke ground later in the year at the Interstate 70 exchange with I-435, east of the Village West retail and entertainment district. Homefield KC and Sunflower Development Group partnered with the Margaritaville chain on the project, which will have a 229-room hotel, plus restaurants and bars, when it opens in the spring of 2025.
February
5 Kansas City learned in 2022 that it would be a host city for the FIFA World Cup 2026; now, the extent of that engagement has been revealed: The tournament will play six games at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Four group stage matches will be played June 16-27, followed by a July 3 game in the round of 32. The grand finale here will be a July 11 quarter-final game. Kansas City was the smallest venue chosen as a host city, each of which could see a $620 million economic boost from World Cup matches, city officials say.
21 The first charges are filed against two adults over the fatal shooting a week earlier after the Downtown parade celebrating the Chiefs Super Bowl LVIII victory. Those charges in Jackson County came days after two juveniles were charged in the gunfight that fatally wounded bystander Lisa Lopez-Galvan moments after the celebration event ended outside Union Station.
22 The region’s logistics sector flex since 2008 has seen hundreds of millions of square feet of new distribution and warehousing space added to the market. Now, Americold announces it will build its first facility temperature-controlled site in Kansas City, a 335,000-square-foot building that the company will use to better serve markets in both the United States and Mexico. Canadian Pacific Kansas City is partnering with Americold on the $127 million project, which state officials say will create 187 new jobs. The global logistics company has roughly 1.5 billion cubic feet of refrigerated storage in nearly 245 warehouses in the Western Hemisphere, Europe, and Asia.
March
16 The Kansas City Current makes soccer history with the opening of CPKC Stadium on the east end of Berkley Riverfront Park. The $135 million project—a rarity in professional sports, as it was privately funded—is billed as the world’s first stadium designed and built specifically for women’s professional soccer competition. The Current treated a sell-out crowd to a 5-4 victory over the Portland Thorns in the NWSL season opener.
20 Wyandotte County scores again with a new Mattel Adventure Park to be built west of the Kansas Speedway. Plans presented to the Unified Government call for roller coasters, a rooftop restaurant and bar, and various other attractions. The park is expected to open in 2026 near 118th Street and State Avenue. The $115 million park is a centerpiece of the larger, $490 million Destination KCK resort-style entertainment district that will be funded in part by the state’s STAR bonds program.
April
23 Oracle chairman Larry Ellison catches the health care world by surprise with his declaration that the IT giant will leave Austin to build a new $1.6 billion headquarters campus in Nashville. That doesn’t augur well for Kansas City, where Oracle has pulled back since its 2022 acquisition of Cerner Corp. for $28.3 billion. At that time, Cerner was the region’s largest employer, with 13,500 people. Since then, Oracle has halved the Kansas City workforce, vacated Cerner’s former world headquarters in North Kansas City, and pulled the plug on further construction at the massive Innovations Campus development in south Kansas City. Civic leaders were concerned that the move to Nashville could further reduce Oracle’s presence here.
29 UMB Bank, the biggest based in Missouri, further asserts that dominance by announcing that it will acquire Denver-based Heartland Financial USA in an all-stock deal valued at $2 billion. At that point, UMB had most recently reported local deposits of nearly $24.9 billion or a 28.5 percent market share. It was the biggest acquisition in UMB’s 111-year history, and with a combined $64.5 billion in assets, it moved into the top 5 percent of publicly traded U.S. banks.
May
29 City officials in Overland Park approve an extension for the $2 billion project now known as Meridian, a massive multiuse redevelopment of the former Brookridge Country Club site and surrounding properties. The project has long been bogged down in City Council and planning commission deliberations driven by opposition from neighbors over the massive scale. It finally won approval in 2019 and broke ground in 2023 at Interstate 435 and Antioch Road. The plan calls for 2,000 apartments, offices, and two hotels, plus other retail, restaurant, and entertainment venues.
June
4 Forvis, the largest accounting firm in Kansas City, announces that it is forming a partnership with Paris-based Mazars, creating a $5 billion global industry giant. Not a merger, the deal creates a two-member network that will be one of the world’s 10 largest accounting enterprises. The deal marked a dramatic—and rapid—next step in the evolution of what had been BKD, a Springfield-headquartered multistate firm that merged in 2022 with DHG of Charlotte, N.C. That deal created a top 10 U.S. firm that was rebranded as Forvis.
26 To the relief of those lamenting the long decline in conditions on The Country Club Plaza, officials with Dallas-based HP Village Management confirm that the company will acquire the historic Kansas City shopping and dining district for $175.6 million. The sale, which concluded later that week, sets the stage for Highland Park Village Partners to invest an estimated $100 million in upgrades that would restore the Plaza’s claim to being the premier shopping venue in the region.
July
1 The University of Kansas Health System, anchored by the biggest medical center in the region, extends its footprint into Missouri by adding Liberty Hospital to its fold. Though opposed by legislators on either side of the state line, health system CEO Bob Page said the alliance made sense, given that more than a third of KU Health’s patients each year are from Missouri (the main hospital campus is bordered by State Line on the east, abutting Kansas City’s Midtown neighborhoods). The deal added slightly more than 200 licensed beds to the system, which has 970 beds at The University of Kansas Hospital.
August
19 Carvana, an industry pioneer in online sales of used cars, announces the development of its first auction and reconditioning site in Kansas City. The company will add an inspection and reconditioning center to its existing wholesale auction site in Belton and says the new facility will employ about 200 people and will bolster retail and wholesale operations with expanded offerings, including same-day delivery, for retail and commercial customers.
27 The rapid rise of CrossFirst Bank from a startup in 2007 to one of the Kansas City region’s biggest banks reaches its endgame as officials announce a merger into Illinois-based First Busey Corp. in an all-stock transaction valued at $916.8 million. Operating under the Busey brand, the merged enterprise will boast about $20 billion in assets and $17 billion in deposits, along with $13 billion in wealth management assets under management or administration. Founded in the mire of the Great Recession in 2007, CrossFirst soared to become the fourth-largest bank based in the Kansas City region, with assets of more than $7.6 billion.
September
27 The City Council approves a three-phase master plan for Parade Park Homes, believed to be the biggest single housing project in Kansas City’s history and, without question, the biggest ever in the urban core. With a combined price tag of $400 million, it would create 1,084 new residences. The collaboration between Flaherty & Collins Properties and Twelfth Street Heritage Development Corp. will replace what had been the site of the city’s biggest housing co-op. Officials say affordable-rate housing at that scale will create a badly needed critical mass of residents that will support the nearby 18th and Vine historic and entertainment district.
October
7 Terracon, the Olathe environmental engineering firm that has leveraged an aggressive acquisition strategy to become one of the region’s biggest firms, does it again with its fifth pickup of the year, bringing to more than 80 the number of firms it has bought. The addition of Metcalf Archaeological Consultants adds 72 employees to the Terracon fold and increases its reach in the Rocky Mountain region and across the Great Plains states. Combined with its organic growth, Terracon crossed the $1 billion revenue threshold in 2022 and topped that with $1.1 billion in 2023.
30 New York-based SomeraRoad breaks ground on its massive, $526.7 million redevelopment project in the West Bottoms. The firm began assembling properties in the industrial and warehouse district in 2021 and has rolled out plans for a comprehensive mixed-use site that, by 2040, will add a 50-room boutique hotel, more than 1,200 apartments, and nearly 170,000 square feet of office and retail space in a blend of new construction and adaptive-reuse projects.
November
11 Nearly a decade after the demolition of the former Indian Springs Mall and multiple proposals that failed to succeed, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., selects Eastside Innovation to lead a massive $700 million redevelopment of the site. Eastside Innovations and co-developer Arnold Development Group have dubbed it Midtown Station, and it will include 1,475 apartments, nearly 291,000 square feet of retail space, 63 single-family homes and 150 townhomes, a hotel and grocery store, among other features. It will break ground next year, with project completion of its two phases in 2026 and 2027.
15 Kansas City-based Patmos says it will turn the former Kansas City Star printing facility Downtown into a 100-plus megawatt AI innovation facility as part of a billion-dollar retrofit. Patmos says the first elements of the center will be operational by mid-2026 and will take up the entirety of the 400,000-square-foot building bounded by 16th, 18th, McGee, and Oak streets. It was opened in 2006 at a cost of $200 million but was vacated in 2022 as the paper’s subscription base collapsed. The site featured prominently in efforts earlier this year to bring a Royals stadium Downtown, a plan that was abandoned after voters rejected a sales-tax extension to finance it.
19 The Olathe City Council approved the use of STAR bond financing for a $320 million amusement park billed as the region’s first ultra-accessible venue of its kind at 119th Street and Renner Road. The 60-acre Michael’s Wonder World is being developed by Loretto Properties and VanTrust Real Estate, and it will be anchored by the entertainment campus, with a youth sports arena and a 150-room hotel. It will be built to serve people with mental or developmental disabilities and will include a medical assistance center.
December
4 Prairie Village-based Flint Development announces completion of the first building at Flint Commerce Center, a 1 million-square-foot distribution center near 103rd and Edgerton Road in southwest Johnson County. It’s the first of six buildings planned in a 370-acre industrial park, with a projected cost of $390 million. When completed, the center will offer nearly 4.7 million square feet of Class A industrial space. Panasonic Energy, which expects to have its $4 billion EV battery plant starting production early next year, is leasing half of the first building.
2024 Newsmakers:
Another Super Bowl
The Kansas City Chiefs are world champions of pro football. Again. Facing what the statistical whizzes call the most difficult post-season schedule in NFL playoff history—without the benefit of the opening-round bye—the Chiefs won their second straight Lombardi Trophy. Again. And they did it by thwarting the San Francisco 49ers. Again. The only question left unanswered as confetti cannons showered red and gold on the Allegiant Stadium turf: Can they do it a third time? That’s how close Kansas City is to making history; no team in the Super Bowl era has locked up three in a row. What made this one particularly sweet was the continued demonstration of cool under fire. Or frost. The Chiefs prevailed at Arrowhead in what went down as the fourth-coldest game in NFL history, 26-7, then dodged a bullet in Buffalo with a last-minute field-goal miss by kicker Tyler Bass. Again on the road for the AFC championship, the Chiefs held Lamar Jackson’s explosive offense to a single touchdown in a 17-10 victory. Then came a rematch with the 49ers, victims of Kansas City’s fourth-quarter comeback in Super Bowl LIV. With less than two minutes to go, the 49ers went up 19-16 on a Jake Moody field goal. Cue Patrick Mahomes, who engineered the drive of the year: 75 yards in 13 plays, capped by a game-winning toss to Mecole Hardman as time was running out in the overtime period. Now the question: Can KC make history with a three-peat?
October Baseball
A sports year that began with the football team elevating a city’s spirits morphed into a celebration of baseball success as the Kansas City Royals staged one of the biggest year-over-year turnarounds in the history of the game. After a dismal 56-106 record in 2023—capping a seven-year run of losing seasons (three of which included at least 100 losses)—the frustration of Kansas City fans lifted like an early-morning fog hit by the summer sun. Not only did the Royals bring playoff-caliber baseball back to KC for the first time since winning the World Series in 2015, they made quick work of the Baltimore Orioles in the wild-card round, taking both games in a best-of-three series and further infuriating Charm City sports fans by ending, as the Chiefs did seven months earlier. The rebound ran out of steam against the Damn Yankees in the AL Divisional Series, with the Royals losing three of four games. Even though their season was over, a new hope was spreading across Kansas City, thanks to the high-energy play of shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and the steadying influence of veteran catcher Salvadore Perez. The duo combined to stroke 59 home runs, with 213 runs batted in between them. Witt finished second in the voting for American League MVP, played his way to the All-Star Game, and finished as Major League Baseball’s batting champion with a .332 average.
Downtown Tower Boom
Not quite a decade earlier, Kansas City witnessed the rise of its first Downtown apartment tower in 50 years. Throughout 2024, the upscale-living boom continued to flex its muscles. First came word that Cordish Cos. was moving ahead with plans for Four Light, which would complete the original vision of four luxury towers bringing thousands of new residents to the Power & Light District’s retail and entertainment venues. The $156 million building at Truman Road and Main Street will add 293 residential units, from micro apartments to two-bedroom penthouse suites. Cordish had always taken the position that, as each tower began to fill up with residents, it would move ahead with the next. So Four Light follows One Light ($80 million, 315 units, opened in 2015), Two Light ($120 million, 296 units, opened in 2018), and Three Light ($150 million, 288 units, opened in 2023). And Cordish still has two more towers it might pursue near the $900 million P&L district. Meanwhile, a California developer looking to the north side of the Central Business District says it will level a parking garage to put up 800 Grand, a 25-story high-rise with 300 units and a project cost estimated at $300 million. Combined with the Light towers, those five buildings alone would account for nearly 1,500 residences, and perhaps twice that many residents, bolstering the city’s efforts to create critical mass Downtown.
Just Saying ‘No’
Sports fans in Kansas City are happy to part with dollars for seats—when they believe the on-field performance merits it. Consider the case of the Kansas City Royals, whose drive to the post-seasons this year spiked attendance by 21.2 percent over 2023 to nearly 1.66 million. This year’s turnout was 30 percent higher than the dismal 1.28 million in 2021, which was the lowest since 1991. But tickets are one thing, and paying for a venue is quite another. That became clear in April when Jackson County voters throttled a ballot initiative to extend a local sales tax meant to finance a replacement for the venerable Kauffman Stadium. Majority owner John Sherman had pushed for the extension and zeroed in on a Downtown site a block from the Power & Light District. It wasn’t just “no,” the 58-42 margin screamed, “hell, no.” Several things factored in: perhaps fans weren’t convinced that the team was truly righting its competitiveness. Perhaps they didn’t like the idea of abandoning The K. Maybe it was twinning the measure with a proposal to fund $800 million in improvements at Arrowhead Stadium across the parking lot at Truman Sports Complex. Or all three. In any case, the year drew to a close with continuing debate over whether the Royals should push for another Downtown site, possibly adjacent to Union Station, or look to a new home in Kansas or Clay County in Missouri.