Country Club District

Kansas City, Missouri. J C Nichols Co, developer. 1907

The Country Club District is a vast residential area developed by the J C Nichols Company on the south side of Kansas City. Started by Jesse Clyde Nichols in 1907 on an almost worthless ten-acre tract of land abandoned after the collapse of Kansas City's real estate boom of the 1880s, within 30 years the development encompassed over 4000 acres.¹ Influenced by the City Beautiful Movement, the work of the planner George E Kessler (who at the turn of the century was laying out the system of motorways and boulevards that give Kansas City its distinctive character), and by a bicycle tour of the garden suburbs of Europe, Nichols purposely chose land outside the city's transportation system and thus inex-

pensive enough to allow him to create value by providing generous lots and parks. Unlike most developers of the time, Nichols realised that a motorway system focused on a high-class shopping centre, serving as a connective knuckle between his development and the existing suburbs of Kansas City, could be a great draw as more and more Americans bought cars.

The shopping centre, Country Club Plaza, was the jewel of the district. Begun in 1922 – originally under the direction of the architect Edward Buehler Delk, but supervised from 1925 to 1974 by Edward W Tanner² – from its inception the Plaza has been a symbol of Kansas City's aspirations to rise above its

origins as a Wild West prairie town. Planned with an alternating block pattern of buildings and landscaped squares of trees under which cars could be parked, Country Club Plaza was Nichols' 20th-century response to the famous plazas of Spain. The copy of the Giralda tower, the fountains, and extensive use of brightly coloured tiles work astonishingly well, providing a pleasant and convenient shopping area while evoking Spain and Addison Mizner's Palm Beach.

Surrounding the Plaza, Nichols and his company architects erected numerous multiple dwellings at densities varying from double- and triple-decker walk-ups to ten- and 12-storey blocks of flats. The best of these

MAP OF THE COUNTRY CLUB DISTRICT

1 Plan, c 1930

2 Typical view

3 Country Club Plaza, c 1922 (ph: RAMS)

4 Plaza Theatre, c 1907

# THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

## Seville Square

A $17 million redevelopment of the existing structure. The project will include approximately 10,000 square feet of restaurant space and 76,000 square feet of retail space. The adjacent parking structure will be expanded and rehabilitated.

## Saks Fifth Avenue Block

An $11 million development consisting of an additional 30,000 square feet of retail and improvements to the existing parking structure.

## Fountain Square - 47th and Pennsylvania Avenue

A $73 million mixed-use development which includes 265,000 square feet of office space, 60,000 square feet of retail and 10,000 square feet of restaurant space. The project will also include the construction of 1,745 new parking spaces.

## Hotel development - 47th and Pennsylvania

A $36 million hotel consisting of approximately 300 rooms and 450 parking spaces.

## Central Parking

A $7 million improvement to the existing Central Plaza Parking area. The plan will incorporate approximately 25,000 square feet of new retail and public space, and function as a community gathering place.

## Halls Block

A $7.5 million addition to the existing retail and parking structure. This development will include new retail space and 200 new parking spaces.

## Park Lane - 4600 J. C. Nichols Parkway

A $10 million conversion of the existing Park Lane apartments to an 88 room hotel. The project also includes 280 new parking spaces.

## Kirkwood Circle - 49th and Wornall

A $50 million residential development which includes approximately 350 apartments and 410 new parking spaces.

## 4900 Main Street

A $25 million project containing a 182,000 square foot commercial office building and an addition of 530 new parking spaces.

## Public Amenities

A $5 million public amenities package to include directional signage graphics, lighting, auditory, water elements and statuary.