Westport Commons

Developer:  HP Development Partners LLP
Location: Kansas City, Mo.

The development of Westport Commons, a giant co-working facility in Kansas City, Mo., required a complex financing plan that included HTCs and new markets tax credits (NMTCs), as well as the renovation of a middle school that opened in 1923. Its success earned a Historic Rehabilitation Award for developer HP Development Partners LLP in the non-residential development that overcame significant obstacles category.
Westport Commons gives entrepreneurs, early stage companies, nonprofits and other businesses a place to collaborate with the opportunity to operate more efficiently than in a traditional office. The development required complicated work to create spaces while keeping the historic character intact and using as much of the property as possible. The large auditorium, gymnasium and balcony areas have been restored with new amenities–all with significant tax credit financing.

“It seems they overcame many hurdles on putting this deal together, from the financing to the design and use, while adhering to the architectural significance,” said John Lisella, Historic Rehabilitation Awards judge.

Return to 2017 Historic Rehabilitation Awards