Hunt Midwest, Copaken Brooks partner on redeveloping former KCPS HQ in Downtown

Two legacy family-owned companies with deep roots in Kansas City real estate will team up to redevelop a prime downtown site that formerly was Kansas City Public Schools’ headquarters.

Hunt Midwest late last month acquired a 61.2% tenancy-in-common interest in 1211 McGee St., joining Copaken Brooks as a partner in the approximately 2.6-acre site.

The property now houses a grass lot and a two-story parking garage on a full block, southeast of 12th and McGee streets. An original partner, Oklahoma-based Square Deal Investments, transferred its interest to Hunt Midwest with the recent transaction.

The deal further solidifies a development relationship between Copaken Brooks and Hunt Midwest, which earlier this year signed another tenancy-in-common agreement — a 50-50 split for the Corrigan Station II office building at 1881 Main St.

In recent months, Hunt Midwest has built a new satellite office space on Corrigan Station II’s second floor. The firm anticipates taking occupancy in early July, supplementing its SubTropolis headquarters in the Northland.

“For us, what we were looking for was something that was more central, had more networking opportunities and to keep bringing talent in and really to reinvest in the urban core,” Hunt Midwest CEO Ora Reynolds said.

To that end, an eventual project at 12th and McGee would become Hunt Midwest’s first large-scale redevelopment in Downtown. The company has built a range of single-family communities in different metro suburbs; apartment complexes such as Mission 106 in Leawood and The Vue in downtown Overland Park; and millions of industrial square feet in and beyond the Kansas City area.

“We think the importance of the core is crucial, and when we saw this (12th and McGee) site and a partner wanted out … we saw this as an opportunity to take some skillsets that are identical, and then other core competencies we may have that are different, and bring them together,” Reynolds said.

The original investor-owners, CB 1211 McGee LLC, in September 2019 bought the site from KCPS for $6.6 million. About a year later, it demolished the historic Board of Education building, which had sat vacant since the district’s 2016 move to 2901 Troost Ave.

Copaken Brooks and Hunt Midwest now are in the initial stages of reviewing different items — building massing, uses, the community wants and economic feasibility — that will go on to inform a future project, principal Jon Copaken said.

At a high level, he said, the development could include some mix of residential, office, or retail components. Copaken underscored the potential to build significant density on the 2.6-acre site. By comparison, he noted, the 14-story Reverb and 12-story Arterra multifamily projects on which his firm partnered both were completed on roughly half an acre.

“The city really wants to see the density and wants to see cranes in the air, but not just one- or two-story buildings,” Copaken said. “They want to see 30-story buildings. Whether this (at 12th and McGee) is 30, I have no idea, but I think we would plan something that has a lot of density.”

Copaken previously has floated the possibility for a two-block development that ties KCPS’ former site in with another block of lots his company owns just west of there at 13th Street and Grand Boulevard, which has seen different office headquarters proposals. On Friday, he said such a two-block project is not contemplated at this time, though eventual projects on the separate properties ought to be designed in alignment with each other.

When CB 1211 McGee LLC bought the 12th and McGee site, KCPS agreed to support a property tax abatement for a future project of no longer than 15 years — as much as 75% between years one and 10, and 37.5% from years 11 to 15. That support hinges on the project involving one or more mixed-use multistory buildings and support from a “but for” analysis by the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City.