Proposed Downtown Kansas City Data Center Faces Community Opposition
A proposal by Revitalization Unlimited to demolish the historic Western Newspaper Union building in downtown Kansas City and replace it with a 20-story data center is facing strong community opposition. Residents and historians are concerned about the loss of the historic site, the lack of community benefit from the data center, and potential tax scheme implications, ahead of an August planning commission meeting.
A proposal for a 20-story data center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, is encountering significant community pushback. Miami-based developer Revitalization Unlimited plans to demolish the more than 100-year-old Western Newspaper Union Building, officially recognized as a historic site in 2007, to make way for the 141,000-square-foot facility which would include a coffee shop.
Accountability reporter Isabella Ladonna from KSHB 41 highlighted residents' concerns, with many downtown inhabitants questioning the appropriateness of placing a data center on a historic site and the perceived lack of community benefit from such a structure. They also expressed skepticism regarding the state and historical tax credits associated with the project, fearing it could be a "tax scheme."
The project is scheduled for review by the Kansas City Planning Commission in August. Neighbors are demanding answers from city leaders, questioning the rationale behind demolishing a historic, in-use building for a project that the community does not support. The broader issue of data center development in the region is becoming a political topic, potentially influencing upcoming primary elections in Kansas and Missouri.