Kansas City businessmen transforming historic Public Works buildings in Jazz District

Farrah Mina
·3 min read

A trio of Kansas City business owners is bringing a pair of buildings in the 18th & Vine District back to life.

Previously housing Kansas City’s water and street departments, the over 140-year-old stone buildings at 2000 Vine Street are undergoing renovations to restore their original luster.

Shomari Benton, Jason Parson and Tim Duggan aim to transform the formerly abandoned buildings into a mixed-use office and retail development, with opportunities for local business incubators and community gathering spaces.

Vine Street Brewing, Kansas City’s first Black-owned brewery, has committed to leasing space in the project’s south building.

The project partners said they want to make a long-term investment within the Vine Street community.

“We are very committed to seeing not only the community thrive and to come back, but just to see ownership that looks like the community within the neighborhood,” Parson said.

The two buildings at 2000 Vine Street, formerly housing Kansas City’s water and street departments, have been abandoned since the late 1970s. Now a trio of Kansas City business owners is transforming them into a mixed-use office and retail development.
The two buildings at 2000 Vine Street, formerly housing Kansas City’s water and street departments, have been abandoned since the late 1970s. Now a trio of Kansas City business owners is transforming them into a mixed-use office and retail development.

His connection to the historic Jazz District runs deep. Parson grew up in the Jazz District and his grandfather, Jay McShann, was a legendary jazz musician.

“Literally, it’s been in my blood,” he said.

When Parson opened up his communications company, Parson + Associates, he made an intentional decision to locate it in the Jazz District.

“What we’re trying to do is just continue to create that positive momentum. It’s the commitment to community that’s important here,” Parson said.

Like Parson, Benton also has familial ties to the area. His grandfather was the owner of The Call, an African American newspaper housed in the district and serving as a trusted source of information for Kansas City’s Black communities.

“It’s an opportunity to be a part of something larger than us,” Benton said.

The two buildings at 2000 Vine Street, formerly housing Kansas City’s water and street departments, have been abandoned since the late 1970s. Now a trio of Kansas City business owners is transforming them into a mixed-use office and retail development.
The two buildings at 2000 Vine Street, formerly housing Kansas City’s water and street departments, have been abandoned since the late 1970s. Now a trio of Kansas City business owners is transforming them into a mixed-use office and retail development.

Before Benton, Parson and Duggan undertook the task of stabilizing the structures, the blighted buildings had been on the city’s dangerous buildings registry, deemed unsafe for a person to live or work in.

But the three of them got to work to get them in shape, tackling collapsed roofs, boarded-up windows, hazardous materials and overgrown vegetation.

Duggan, who runs a design build firm with his wife, has always had an affinity for saving buildings. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he moved to New Orleans to help the state’s recovery. When he returned to Kansas City, Duggan and his wife bought an historic abandoned home in Beacon Hills.

“We feel pretty strong about the effort we’ve taken to breathe life back into some of these old buildings and give them an adaptive use because they’re amazingly built buildings. They just need to be maintained like anything else,” Duggan said.

Brad Leyden, right, and Dirk Reynolds from BCCM Construction Group are working on the renovation of the interior space of the former water department building at 2000 Vine Street. The two public works buildings will be transformed into a mixed-use office and retail development.
Brad Leyden, right, and Dirk Reynolds from BCCM Construction Group are working on the renovation of the interior space of the former water department building at 2000 Vine Street. The two public works buildings will be transformed into a mixed-use office and retail development.

As construction continues, the project partners aim to open the building located at the north end of 2000 Vine Street for occupancy in the fall, with the opening of the south building slated for 2022.

Once completed, the north building will house the three business partners, with additional space available for offices, businesses and retail.

“Our focus is solely on just trying to do right by the community, to do right by the city being they trusted us to bring these buildings back to life,” Parson said. “We hope ultimately, through our efforts, other developers that have projects ready to go see that now’s the time. The district has been good to us. Now it’s time for us to be good to the district.”