Location: 106 W. 14th St., Kansas City
Size: 297,000 square feet
Value: $70 million
Players: NorthPoint Development, developer; Cushman & Wakefield, broker; Polsinelli PC, Lewis Rice LLC, Levy Craig Law Firm PC, law firms; NSPJ Architects PA, architect; FP&C Consultants Inc., Bob D. Campbell & Co., Hoss & Brown Engineers Inc., Norton & Schmidt Consulting Engineers, Latimer Sommers & Associates PA, Mike Hagan Electric, Blue River Plumbing, Johnson Controls, engineers; Great Southern Bank, BankLiberty, Citizens Bank, financiers; Neighbors Construction Co. Inc., general contractor; Lowery Design Group, interior design; Plasterkraft LLC, plaster restoration; Retrochem, marble restoration; Prosoco Enviro Klean ReVive, exterior limestone restoration
Description: The renovated Power & Light Apartments building, originally constructed in 1931 for offices, now is home to 210 luxury dwellings.
Challenges: Bill Prelogar, principal architect at NSPJ Architects, said there were numerous obstacles in converting the 31-story, 86-year-old building from office space to residences.
“It’s a historic building, so one of our challenges was making sure that whatever we did was respectful of its historic status,” he said.
That included replacing all the original exterior windows with new windows that looked similar but were energy efficient. Exterior lighting was updated, again emulating the building’s original look but with more efficient materials. The exterior was cleaned with care to protect the limestone veneer and metal decorative structures, Prelogar said.
The overhaul also included replacing the electric, plumbing, heating and cooling systems and installing fire sprinklers, he said.
Community impact: In addition to the 210 units in the renovated tower, there are 81 apartments in a recently completed new building adjacent to it.
“If downtown Kansas City is going to be a 24/7 part of the community, we have to have people living Downtown,” Prelogar said.
Unique features: The top floor of the tower was converted into the Beacon Lounge, which can host as many as 50 people. The lounge has a terrace that wraps around the tower, providing rooftop views of the city.
The basement of the tower offers a gym, sauna, spa and tanning beds as well as a theater and wine bar. The other building offers a swimming pool and parking garage, which is connected to the tower.
“We have just about every amenity you could want,” Prelogar said.