Dallas investors plan to restore historic shopping center

At four times the size of Highland Park Village, there’s nothing small about the idea of turning around and tuning up Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza.

As of Friday morning, Ray Washburne, president of HP Village Management, planned to have power washers cleaning the grounds of the shopping and office center built more than 100 years ago.

An affiliate of HP Village Management officially closed on the Kansas City property with 970,000 square feet of commercial space spread across 15 blocks on June 28.

Country Club Plaza’s notoriety in the real estate community is that it was one of the first planned suburban shopping centers to accommodate shoppers arriving by car.

In the Midwest, it has served as a destination for out-of-town and out-of-state shoppers, much like Highland Park Village has, through the years, according to Washburne.

The opportunity to purchase the aging property was first brought to Washburne when he was speaking at an Urban Land Institute conference last May. Someone from investment manager Nuveen, coincidentally the lender on Highland Park Village, asked him if he’d be interested in another big project.

More than $100 million was spent on the updates to Highland Park Village. Washburne said that much more than $100 million will be spent on the Missouri complex, with Nuveen remaining involved.

Given Country Club Plaza’s size, it’s been envisaged into separate districts with a contemporary fashion district, a food and beverage district, and a luxury and designer district.

It’s similar to the retail balance that’s been struck between Dallas’ Knox Street, with which an affiliate of HP Village Management has also been involved, and Highland Park Village, Washburne said.

Currently, there are Tiffany & Co. and Coach stores at Country Club Plaza, but Washburne said there have been conversations with a lot of luxury retailers.

“They’ve seen what we’ve done [with Highland Park Village], and that’s very important,” he said. “There’s a trust factor with the tenants as there is a trust factor that they come in and they’re going to be in with someone who’s taking a long-term approach. We’re not going to put lipstick on it, paint a few storefronts, put a couple tenants in and sell it.”

Washburne said the first priority is security.

“We spend four times as much on security in the Village than they do, and they’re four times the size we are,” said Washburne.

Kansas City, like the Dallas area, has been tapped as a site for FIFA World Cup games in 2026, including a quarterfinal.

It’s a milestone that makes improvements at Country Club Plaza all-the-more critical without forgoing a sense of place.

“The pixie dust on this stuff is really creating an authenticity and uniqueness to the center. What we did at the Village is lead with a food and beverage scene that’s local. Second, you also have to have a number of local retailers,” said Washburne.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Multiple Kansas City architects have been engaged to help with an updated master plan for the Edward Delk-design buildings. Baroque revival and Moorish revival styles were utilized to mimic the architecture of one of Kansas City’s sister cities, Seville, Spain.

Leasing efforts are being led by Stephen Summers, whose family co-owns HP Village Management.

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