Westport High School transforms into Residences at Park 39
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — More than a century after it was built and more than a decade after it closed to students, the old Westport High School is starting its next phase as the Residences at Park 39.
It’s part of a larger, 16-acre project called Park 39 that already turned the old Westport Middle School into co-working and office space, and has plans for a handful of other plots for retail, entertainment, and additional living space.
Inside the original high school building, the wide school building hallways, tall wooden classroom doors, and auditorium turned into a massive common area makes it clear what it used to be and what it took to redevelop.
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“Because of the volume or the ceiling space we had to work with, what we did was we created a living area here and we built a mezzanine above which is the sleeping area,” said Mercier Street Development founder Chip Walsh.
Walsh and Brain Group Founder Andrew Brain are co-developing the project, taking much of the former school and turning it into studios, one and two-bedroom apartments ranging from $875 to more than $1,500, according to the project website.
“We think it’s something that’s reasonably priced for a young professional, for a grad student, and we’re always surprised, empty-nesters who want to be in a more urban environment,” Walsh said.
It’s coming online at a time when Zillow data shows rental prices have been going up each year all over the Kansas City market.
“Within Kansas City, we know there is a shortage of units or supply,” Walsh said. “Depending on who you talk to it’s at least 3,000 units. Others will say it’s 5,000 units.”
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That high demand and historic tax credits make the project possible and open the door to even more residential units on other parts of the former school complex.
“We initially conceived as this project as a work, live, play campus across the entire 16 acres where you could have all these experiences with restaurants, office, and a place to live and more,” Brain said.
The KC Streetcar Extension will eventually put a new streetcar stop two blocks away at 39th and Main while the Gilham Cycle Track is one block in the other direction, connecting downtown to the Plaza. The Residences at Park 39 are hoping to create a living space that costs less than what’s available in either location.
“A lot of what people are building downtown and on the Plaza is high-end luxury product,” Brain said. “We’ve specifically steered this towards what we call ‘market affordable.’ It’s a market rate project but at an affordable end of the spectrum. We tried to tackle the missing middle. This takes a huge chunk out of that.”
The hope is that the density the project creates helps the residents of the future while the mosaic title floor that shows the Class of 1966 Crest keeps the past alive.
“My favorite memory is this one woman [from the Westport High School Class of 1966], we were in the upper gymnasium, the old girls gymnasium and she said, ‘Do you remember when Ms. So-and-so stopped class and lined us up against the wall and told us the President has just been killed,” Brain said, referring to November 22, 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was killed.
The first residents have already moved in. There’s a grand opening for the building coming up in the next few weeks. Developers hope to announce and start building the next phase of the project before the end of the year.
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