Engineering and Design

City Revisiting Plans for Hotel in Former KC Fed Bank Building

Though no action was taken on the measure yesterday by a city council committee, funding for a hotel in the former Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, at 925 Grand Blvd. The current proposal, known as Grand Reserve, by developer… more

Q&A With … Ray Kowalik, Burns & McDonnell

Ray Kowalik is chairman and CEO of Burns & McDonnell, the largest engineering firm by revenues in the Kansas City region, and second-largest by employee totals. Q. Your firm-wide revenue growth has been up sharply for most of the past… more

Contractor Confidence Hits Record Low

Expectations for sales, profit margins and staffing levels expectations fell below the threshold of 50 for the first time in the history of the  Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Construction Confidence Index. Sales expectations, due to COVID-19, decreased from 68.3… more

Q&A With … Don Greenwell, The Builders’ Association

Don Greenwell is president of the Builders' Association in Kansas City, representing the interests of the construction sector in such matters as policy and work-force development. Q. The construction sector nationally shed 29,000 jobs last month amid the pandemic slowdown;… more

KCMO Issues $28M in Infrastructure Improvement Bonds

Kansas City has issued just under $27.79 million in improvement bonds  that would make infrastructure repairs to City Hall, Liberty Memorial, street reconstruction in the City Market area and parking garages. A $9.1-million portion would also be used to fund… more

CDC Issues Worker Guidance for COVID-19 Exposure

The CDC has issued guidance for critical infrastructure employees who might have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 to return to work. Critical-infrastructure employees are considered those who work in 16 different sectors, including those in law enforcement, janitorial staff,… more

U.S. Job Report Strong Amid Coronavirus Concerns

The global coronavirus outbreak hasn't hurt the strong U.S. labor market ... yet. Unemployment in February dropped slightly, to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent in January, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, national payrolls rose by 273,000… more

Hoping for Hyperloop? Missouri Residents Have Company

Missouri economic-development and community leaders have been pushing hard to land the first U.S. installment of Virgin Hyperloop One, a high-speed transportation platform that could one day send travelers to destinations at up to 700 miles per hour and make… more

Schulte to Join Jackson County Administration

     Troy Schulte's retirement as city manager of Kansas City won't be much of a retirement: A week after he leaves City Hall, he'll mosey across the street to the Jackson County Courthouse, where he'll serve County Executive Frank… more

$350M Plan Would Redevelop Freighthouse Area

A $350-million plan made up of multi-story mixed-use buildings, including hundreds of residential units, has been submitted to the city in an ambitious move to transform the Freighthouse area, just to the south of The Crossroads neighborhood. The plan, put… more