A century-old building that has sat empty in Midtown Kansas City since the mid-1980s is finally on a path toward new life. The Kansas City Plan Commission on Wednesday advanced a zoning plan that would let developers convert the historic Belmont Hotel at 911 E. Linwood Blvd. into 101 apartments, with 40% of the units set aside as affordable housing.
The project, first reported by the Kansas City Star, is led by a development team that includes Linwood Equity Investment LLC. According to the Star, the rehabilitation would restore the building's exterior to its historic appearance while adding tenant amenities, a surface parking lot, extra landscaping and screening to buffer the parking from nearby properties, and a nearby dog park. The planned unit mix includes studios along with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, and the affordable units will serve residents earning up to 60% of the area median income under federal guidelines, per the same report.
A Neighborhood Eyesore Nears a Turning Point
Chris Koch, president of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, told the Star that the building's current condition has been a severe detriment to the neighborhood, and that the project would be transformative. The Belmont has deteriorated significantly since it was vacated, and the Plan Commission's advancement of the zoning plan marks a milestone after years of the structure standing empty just off Linwood Boulevard.
Developers sought an exception to rules governing parking that fronts the nearby boulevard, and in exchange they will be expected to provide the additional landscaping and screening noted above, the Star reports. The Kansas City Council still holds final approval over the zoning plan, which will come up for a vote at a later date.
From Apartment Hotel to Hospital to Vacant Shell
The Belmont was built around 1912, according to the Star's reporting, and design records from SWD Architects show it was designed by architect L. Grant Middaugh for developer John H. Van Closter, blending Classical Revival and Prairie-style elements across six stories. It originally operated as an apartment hotel, offering upscale residential units without individual kitchens, a common arrangement for the era's higher-density housing outside the downtown core.
The building's history took a sharp turn in 1949, when it was converted into the 300-bed Thornton and Minor Hospital, a facility specializing in rectal and colonic treatments that operated there until late 1957, according to the Midtown KC Post. After the hospital relocated, the property served as a regional office for the Veterans Administration in 1958 and later housed other government offices before falling vacant in the mid-1980s. The Star's reporting adds that the building has also been used over the years as offices, a hospital and a nursing home. The state of Missouri even evaluated converting the site into a dormitory-style prison in 1977, though that plan never materialized, per the Midtown KC Post's account.
A previous effort to save the building surfaced in 2016, when developer Ted Sleder proposed converting it into market-rate apartments by 2017. That plan ultimately stalled, and the Belmont sat empty for roughly another decade before the current development team stepped in, the Midtown KC Post reported. The building was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 4, 2016, a designation tied to its eligibility for federal historic tax credits.
Financing Could Blend Tax Credits With City Housing Dollars
City officials say the roughly $20 million rehabilitation, designed by SWD Architects with Caitlin Benedict leading design and construction coordination, could draw support from historic tax credits as well as funds through the Kansas City Housing Trust Fund. That funding stream is already in motion: in July, the city approved a $1.6 million Housing Trust Fund award specifically for Linwood Equity Investment LLC's Belmont redevelopment, part of a larger $24.5 million citywide housing package.
That citywide effort, detailed by the City of Kansas City, combined $16.4 million from the Housing Trust Fund with $8 million from the Central City Economic Development sales tax, funding 16 separate housing projects. Altogether, the package is aimed at creating 907 housing units citywide, more than 80% of which are designated affordable. Hoodline previously reported on another project funded through that same package, the conversion of Beacon Hill's old Robinson Hospital into 47 deeply affordable homes.
The Belmont is one of four remaining historic apartment hotels along a six-block stretch of Linwood Boulevard built in the early 20th century, according to Missouri State Parks records, underscoring the corridor's place in Midtown Kansas City's early growth as a hub for professionals seeking housing outside downtown. If construction moves forward as planned next year, the project would add dozens of income-restricted apartments to a Midtown rental market.
