This Week in KC

🏗️ LENEXA APPROVES THE RISE, A 10-STORY 55-PLUS TOWER FOR CITY CENTER​
Lenexa's City Council signed off on final plans for The Rise, a 10-story, 109-foot building that will be the tallest structure in Lenexa City Center. The active-adult project brings 121 units for residents 55 and older to the corner of 87th Street Parkway and Renner Boulevard, plus a rooftop restaurant and bar, an outdoor pool, and ground-floor office and restaurant space. The city backed it with up to $12 million in TIF over 20 years and $21 million in industrial revenue bonds. Developers REAL Property Group and Copaken Brooks are behind the project.

🚋 KC STREETCAR PICKS PREFERRED ROUTE INTO 18TH & VINE JAZZ DISTRICT​
KC Streetcar, working with the KCATA and the City of Kansas City, has landed on a preferred route to extend service into the 18th & Vine Jazz District: a double-track line along 18th Street tying back to the existing downtown line near 16th and Main. The agency showed the plan at a July 28 open house at Keystone CoLAB, 800 E 18th St. Early estimates put construction at $125 million to $175 million. This is a feasibility study with a preferred route, not a funded or approved extension.

🏈 CHIEFS COMMIT TO ST. JOSEPH TRAINING CAMP FOR NEXT FIVE YEARS​
Chiefs president Mark Donovan said the team will keep training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph for the next five years. Donovan confirmed the multi-year commitment July 29 as the full squad reported for its first practice. Camp opened with 18 scheduled practices, extending a St. Joseph partnership that dates to 2010. The Chiefs say their new $300 million Olathe practice facility will be built with the option to host camp in the future.

🏡 KC ARTISAN HOME TOUR RETURNS IN AUGUST WITH 20-PLUS CUSTOM HOMES​
The Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City opens 20-plus custom homes for its Artisan Home Tour across three August weekends: Aug 7-9, Aug 14-16, and Aug 21-23. Homes stretch from Parkville to Leawood and open Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. All-access tickets are $30 through Aug 6, then $40 once the tour starts Aug 7. The tour is presented by Ferguson Home.

🧬 KC BIOHUB LANDS $38.1M FEDERAL AWARD TO BUILD A NATIONAL BIOMANUFACTURING HUB​
KC BioHub, a program of BioNexus KC, won a $38.1 million award from the U.S. Economic Development Administration's Tech Hubs program to grow the region's biomanufacturing sector. The four-year award funds five projects and builds on KC's 2023 federal Tech Hub designation, with a path to as much as $150 million over time. The consortium spans more than 115 regional partners, including MRIGlobal and Kansas Manufacturing Solutions, and is led by President Melissa Roberts Chapman.

🛒 MIDTOWN COSTCO'S PLAN TO REMOVE ITS PHARMACY AND FOOD COURT FACES CITY COUNCIL PUSHBACK​
Costco's 25-year-old Midtown warehouse at 241 E. Linwood Blvd. wants to become a members' "business center," a switch that would expand grocery options but cut the pharmacy, food court, bakery, optical center, and clothing. All but one Kansas City Council member has signed a letter urging Costco to keep those services and the jobs. The rezoning on the table is narrow, just a fenced lot to stage delivery box trucks, but it's become the flashpoint. The full Council votes Aug. 6; Costco aims to convert this fall and reopen in spring 2027.

What you might have missed last week

• The family behind Jack Stack Barbecue is significantly expanding its barbecue production with a new 72,000-square-foot facility in Harrisonville, Missouri, through its independent company, Kansas City Hickory Provisions.
• Brookside Charter School students are getting a hands-on lesson in shaping the future of Kansas City. This summer, incoming 7th and 8th graders partnered with KC Water to build a 3D model of planned green infrastructure improvements at Daniel Morgan Boone Park.
• Downtown Kansas City, Kansas, is gaining new momentum as several redevelopment projects move forward, led by the transformation of the long-vacant former UMB Bank tower.

Business Scene

• 🧱LEGO OPENS KC'S ONLY JOHNSON COUNTY STORE​
  The LEGO Store held its grand opening Friday, July 24 at Town Center Crossing (119th & Roe, Leawood), the metro's only Johnson County location. Fans camped out in the rain to be first inside. ​
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• 🍝 V MODERN ITALIAN IS THE FIRST TENANT OF THE $35M COCINA 47 PLAZA​
  ​The Italian concept is the debut tenant of the new $35 million Cocina 47 Plaza development, anchoring the project's dining lineup. ​
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• 🍔 DISCO BURGER OPENS A WALK-UP WINDOW IN BROOKSIDE​
  ​The River Market smash-burger favorite now has a brick-and-mortar home at 600 E. 63rd St., with a walk-up window at its new Brookside location.​
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• 🍖 Q39 SETS AN AUG. 3 OPENING FOR ITS LEE'S SUMMIT LOCATION​
  The award-winning KC barbecue name expands to Lee's Summit, with doors opening Sunday, Aug. 3. ​
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• 🍺 KC BIER CO.'S LENEXA BREWERY IS NOW OPEN​
  ​The German-style brewery opened its second location Tuesday, July 28 at 11 a.m. (founder Steve Holle).
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• 🍸 SOCIAL HOUSE, A BLACK-OWNED APERITIVO AND COCKTAIL BAR, OPENS AT MARTINI CORNER SATURDAY, AUG. 1​
  ​Serial entrepreneur Brian Roberts (The Black Pantry, Good Karma Coffee) debuts Social House on Saturday, Aug. 1 at 325 E. 31st St., an aperitivo bar pairing Italian-inspired cocktails made with Black-owned spirits and pizza from neighboring Orange By: Devoured. Open 4 to 11 p.m.

🏢 DEVELOPMENT SCENE

THE ROYALS' $3 BILLION CROWN CENTER BALLPARK DISTRICT ​
HEADS TO A KEY CITY VOTE AUG. 5

Kansas City's biggest development is moving toward a decision. The Royals and the Crown Center Redevelopment Corporation want to rezone about 91 acres at Crown Center — the land Hallmark's corporate headquarters sits on today — to build a year-round "ballpark district." The plan centers on a new 34,000-seat downtown stadium, with hotels, shops, housing, renovated plazas, and more than 8,000 parking spaces around it. The applicants describe it as a roughly $3 billion public-private project, built in phases across about 10 sub-districts, with the stadium targeted to open for the 2031 season and full buildout by 2040.

The funding is the flashpoint. The city has pledged up to $600 million toward the development. Mayor Quinton Lucas says KC is moving "full speed ahead" and that the project will not require new taxes from Kansas City voters. Critics counter that tools like tax increment financing (TIF) and city-backed bonds still commit public money without a public vote — a sore point after Jackson County voters rejected a stadium sales tax (which would have helped fund a new Royals ballpark and Chiefs stadium upgrades) 58% to 42% in April 2024. Residents have also raised traffic and parking concerns; project leaders say existing infrastructure and planned road improvements can handle it.

A note on stage: the July 27 event at Union Station's Regnier Theatre was a community meeting hosted by the applicants — and it was cut short amid shouting over financing — not a formal city vote. The step that matters next is the City Plan Commission, scheduled to take up the rezoning Aug. 5; if it advances there, the plan still needs City Council approval.

Source: KC City Plan Commission — kcmo.gov/cpc (rezoning vote scheduled Aug. 5)

🎨 ART SCENE

ARTS & CULTURE HAPPENING AROUND KC

• 🦋 FINAL WEEKEND: FESTIVAL OF BUTTERFLIES AT POWELL GARDENS
  ​The walk-through butterfly experience closes its run Sunday, Aug. 2. This is the real "go now or miss it" weekend hook. Family-friendly, and the urgency makes it a natural lead. Source: Powell Gardens​
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• 🌍 LAST CHANCE: "THE WORLD IN KANSAS CITY" AT THE KEMPER (CLOSES AUG. 9)
  ​The Kemper's World Cup-inspired group show, contemporary artists with ties to KC, reflecting the city's global moment, comes down Aug. 9. It's a smart tie-back to KC's World Cup summer, it's free, and "closing soon" gives readers a reason to act. Source: Kemper Museum / KC Studio​
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• 📷 ON VIEW: "SECOND NATURE: PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE AGE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE" AT THE KEMPER
  ​A photography exhibition running through Sept. 12. Free, and a good evergreen pick for readers who want an indoor, air-conditioned art outing. Source: Kemper Museum​
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• 🖼️ PLAN AHEAD: FIRST FRIDAYS RETURNS AUG. 7
  ​Not this weekend, but the next one. KC's biggest recurring art night, 100+ artists in the Crossroads Art Alleys, live music, 5-9 PM. Worth a "mark your calendar" line since readers plan from the newsletter. Source: Crossroads Arts District​
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• 🛍️ WEST BOTTOMS FIRST WEEKEND (AUG. 1-3)
  ​Antique and vintage shops open the first weekend of every month. More shopping than fine art, but a solid crossover pick for the weekend. Source: West Bottoms district

🏐 SPORTS SCENE

KANSAS CITY WANTS THE WORLD BACK: THE CITY IS CHASING TWO MORE GLOBAL TOURNAMENTS IN 2031

Kansas City isn't done hosting the world. Weeks after staging six FIFA World Cup 26 matches, including a quarterfinal and more than 410,000 fans through the stadium gates, the city is moving to land two more international tournaments in 2031. On July 23, Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced measures at City Council to formally pursue host-city bids for both the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2031 Men's Rugby World Cup.

The plan on paper is the same for both events. Arrowhead Stadium (GEHA Field, about 76,000 seats) would be the primary venue, with CPKC Stadium as the secondary site. CPKC is the riverfront home of the KC Current and the first stadium ever purpose-built for a women's professional team.

The Women's World Cup is the bigger prize. In 2031 it expands to 48 teams and 104 matches for the first time, staged by a four-nation bid led by the United States alongside Mexico, Costa Rica, and Jamaica, and played in June and July. U.S. Soccer's bid book proposes 14 American stadiums among roughly 20 possible sites, and Kansas City is one of the 14. Bidders project the expanded tournament could draw about 4.5 million fans and generate roughly $4 billion in revenue.

The Men's Rugby World Cup runs on a separate track in September and October 2031, with the U.S. already named host nation. That tournament grows to 24 teams and 52 matches over six weeks. Kansas City is one of 27 U.S. cities and areas in the applicant phase, part of a group that put forward 33 candidate venues. (Note: this is the men's event. A separate 2033 Women's Rugby World Cup is also coming to the U.S.)

Neither bid is settled. The rugby field narrows to a "candidate phase" at the end of 2026, with final host cities announced after the 2027 Rugby World Cup and match allocations set in 2029 and 2030. The Women's World Cup host cities inside the U.S.-led bid still have to be finalized too. City leaders frame both pushes as an economic and tourism play built on KC's World Cup momentum, while acknowledging that actually hosting would require further conversations about the public investment involved.

Tournament details: World Rugby and the FIFA / U.S. Soccer 2031 bid book.

REAL ESTATE SCENE

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Weekend Events

Your KC Summer, All in One Place

We put together a 21-page Kansas City Ultimate Summer Guide covering everything you need for summer 2026.
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From World Cup match days and Pride to the best BBQ patios, hidden gems, day trips, free outdoor movies, pet-friendly markets, and a full neighborhood Saturday itinerary.
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Whether you've lived here 20 years or just moved in, there's something in here you haven't tried yet.