Midland Lofts in Kansas City’s Power & Light District Offers 135 Market-Responsive Apartments.
At one time the corporate offices of AMC Theatres, Russell Stover Chocolates, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the 1927 Midland Office Building sat vacant for several years. Designed by architect Thomas White Lamb, the office building, along with the attached Midland Theatre, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Now, The Cordish Companies, the lead developer of Kansas City’s Power & Light District, has completed upgrading the complex it long considered “an underutilized historic jewel.” Ten years after renovating the Theatre in 2008 as part of the district’s revitalization, Cordish commissioned Kansas City-based Helix Architecture + Design to convert the Midland Office Building into much-needed worker-attainable housing.
“It is an honor to bring the historic Midland Office Building back to life as Midland Lofts, and remarkable to look back and see how far we’ve come over the past 15 years,” said John Sweeney, Managing Director of Residential for The Cordish Companies. “With Midland Lofts’ opening, we are thrilled to be bringing even more new downtown living options to the Power & Light District as demand for downtown living continues to grow. Leasing for Midland Lofts has surpassed our expectations, and approximately 50 percent of our residents come from outside the Kansas City Metro area, which continues to attract top employers and students from across the nation.”
Doug Stockman, AIA, Principal and Director of Architecture at Helix Architecture + Design, adds, “The adaptive reuse of the 1927 Midland Office Building into the Midland Lofts offered the opportunity to leverage Helix’s extensive design expertise with historic buildings to create attainable housing for the city’s workforce. It combines Helix’s commitment to the urban core with our passion for revitalizing historic buildings and creating distinctive living spaces for more facets of the urban community.”
Cordish’s initial plan for the 12-story, 88,500-square-foot Midland Office Building modernization included 117 units. Helix called upon its adaptive-reuse expertise to restore the historic façade and upgrade it with energy-efficient windows. Inside, Helix creatively configured the available space to accommodate 135 apartments, more than the developer had originally estimated. This helped achieve Cordish’s goal of monthly rents beginning at less than $1,000, thanks to Helix’s inclusion of 94 studio apartments ranging from 300 to 486 square feet. Forty-one one-bedroom units are available from 478 to 975 square feet.
Living spaces at Midland Lofts were meticulously designed with light finishes and woods to give apartments airy, Scandinavian feelings that embrace the natural light coming from the windows. Each unit boasts quartz countertops, energy-efficient stainless-steel appliances, custom closet organizers, porcelain tile bathroom floors, in-unit washer/dryers, and oversized windows that frame incredible views of downtown. Studio units feature Murphy beds to optimize space flexibility, plus adaptable kitchen counters that can double as workstations.
One of Helix’s primary design challenges was fitting rectangular apartments into a historic building containing several odd-shaped nooks, which the design team used for amenity spaces. Upon entry, Midland Lofts boasts an impressive lobby with large windows naturally spotlighting multiple seating areas for conversation and entertainment. Among the apartment community’s suite of conveniences are coffee bar, commercial entertainment kitchen, fitness center, co-working and conference rooms, business center with computers and printers, game room, lounge, and meditation room.
Throughout the building, Midland Lofts features a curated collection of art that was commissioned to celebrate the artists who performed in the adjacent Midland Theatre during its glamorous history as a grand movie palace from Hollywood’s Golden Age up to the jazz-tinged music of 1960s’ New York nightclubs. Because Midland Lofts is connected to this popular concert venue, Helix paid special attention to the acoustics to isolate the apartment units from loud sounds.
