A Miami-based private equity fund wants to build a 20-story data center on the site of one of downtown Kansas City's historic buildings, the Western Newspaper Union building constructed in 1900.
If plans are approved, the existing building at the corner of 10th Street and Central Street, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, would be demolished and replaced with Revitalization Unlimited’s data center tower.
According to the preservation organization Historic Kansas City, the building served as the Kansas City headquarters of the Western Newspaper Union, which sold ready-print newspapers to small publishers in the early twentieth century.
“We don't know what can or can't be done with the building,” said Steve Austin, CEO of Revitalization Unlimited. “We have to evaluate all of our options.”
What we know
Revitalization Unlimited purchased the Western Newspaper Union Building in December 2025.
The private equity fund placed a historic reservation easement on the old building, which protects the property until project plans are finalized. Austin said the decision to preserve the building or move ahead with the development hinges on whether the fund can claim the project’s charitable tax deductions with the easement.
Geoff Bird, an architect on the project with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, said that centralizing the project in downtown Kansas City would allow systems to transfer and process data with minimal delay.
“They have to be close to where you're using,” Bird said. “(Telecom companies) invest heavily in these urban types of markets to support you guys as customers.”
Based on the estimated personal property tax and building property tax, Austin, with Revitalization Unlimited, said that the data center could drive upwards of $20 to $25 million in annual tax revenue for Kansas City.
But he said that’s not a guarantee.
“This is very preliminary right now. We have no idea if this project's even financeable,” Austin said.
Inside the facility
The building would include a near-5,000 gross square foot public retail entry at the ground level. The remaining floors would be devoted to data center infrastructure.
Bird said KC Water would provide water service to support their closed-loop cooling system, which would circulate cooling fluids to the servers without releasing the fluid into the environment.
According to the project architect, the anticipated annual water demand of this data center is equivalent to 70% of a typical 18-hole golf course in Kansas City. Based on an average 18-hole golf course, that could mean nearly 140 million gallons of water annually.
The gas company Spire also confirmed that it would provide infrastructure support, as reported by The Kansas City Star.
Revitalization Unlimited also plans to generate power on-site using natural gas fuel cells, independent of Kansas City’s power company Evergy. The building also includes diesel backup generators that are required to be tested every month, which is mandatory for most high-rise buildings.
The architect claims that the data center will not affect electricity costs for residents.
Recent city policies
In January 2025, the Kansas City Council approved a zoning change that added new restrictions to data centers and limited where they can be built.
Under the new rules, companies cannot build data centers in rural, residential, neighborhood and retail districts, unless the property is rezoned or the city approves a special use permit.
New regulations also include noise limits and a required distance between the projects and the property line.
Austin, with Revitalization Unlimited, said that the fund is preserving the historic building until two city boards approve the data center.
Community response
More than 80 residents, the majority pushing back heavily against the proposed data center, gathered at a public engagement meeting about the project on Monday night.
“It is clear that the project faces fierce opposition for a variety of reasons by our neighbors — some that are environmental, the context of this site and suitability of the tower, the speculative nature of the project, and preservationist concerns,” wrote the Downtown Neighborhood Association, which hosted the meeting, in a July 21 statement.
Speakers worried the project would exacerbate urban heat island effects, where areas surrounded by pavement, high rises and highways reflect heat, and there’s not enough tree cover to make up the temperature difference.
Buildings that require larger cooling systems, such as data centers, contribute to these increased temperatures.
Other grassroots organizations, including KC Data Center Watchdog, criticized the development’s use of energy, water, infrastructure and land.
The City Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the development plan on Aug. 5.
