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The Plaza's new owners want to transform the district. Here's what's changing

A rendering of a city block with Spanish-style architecture
OMNIPLAN
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Country Club Plaza
HP Village Management released a series of renderings showing a potential new look for the Country Club Plaza. That vision includes brick streets and updated building facades, as seen in this rendering of "Building J."

Updates to facades, brick roads and shuffling of storefronts are among the plans the new Dallas-based owners have for the famous Kansas City landmark.

It's been about three months since Ray Washburne and his business partners bought the Country Club Plaza, and the beginnings of a huge transformation are already underway in the iconic Kansas City shopping district.

HP Village Management, which owns the Plaza, released renderings last week of its new vision for the area, which includes more local restaurants and a shuffling of storefronts, along with significant structural changes such as brick roads and updated facades.

"You walk by where the Nike store is, and it was a 1960s kind of design. And a lot of the facades of the Plaza just lost the look and feel," Washburne said. "So we're going to go back and make it look like it should look. So much of the architecture just got away from the original vision."

Those upgrades may not start for a year or more, Washburne told KCUR's Up To Date, but the area has been freshened up in the meantime. Visitors may notice power-washed sidewalks and newly painted, well-lit parking garages.

  • Ray Washburne, one of the principal owners of the Country Club Plaza
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When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
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