Telecom Hotel & Parking Proposed for Downtown Jones Store Site

KANSAS CITY, KS-An icon Downtown for many decades, the Jones Store Co. department storebuilding, closed three years ago, is being readied for sale andpossible demolition. The prospective buyer, Archon Group of Dallas, is coming to town with aproposal to construct a parking garage andtelecom hotel in its place, according to a spokesperson with BlackwellSanders Peper Martin, the law firm representing Archon.

Negotiations are still pending. Dillards Department Stores, Inc. isselling the property. Terms and dates were not disclosed.New plans call for construction of the parking garage to be start thisspring and be finished in about a year. The garage will have 750 parkingspaces, which is seen as a benefit to the employees of the nearby CityCenter Square, also an Archon property. City Center Square hasmore than 630,000 sf of rentable space and is the third largestoffice building Downtown.

Plans for the office building call for four floors and 150,000 sf of space that would be designed to house equipment owned byInternet and telecommunications companies. One other building, Oak Towerat 324 E. 11th St., has already been converted for this use although nonew structures have been built for this purpose yet in Downtown.

For related news, click on: CenterPoint Exec Sees Telecom Hotel Danger

and: Failed Mall Gets New Life as Telecom Hotel