Kansas City developer Zach Molzer announced Monday that his firm has put roughly 175,000 square feet of brick-and-timber buildings in the historic West Bottoms under contract, teaming up with investment partner Free Heel Capital. A redevelopment plan is still in the works, with no details yet on what the buildings will become.
Molzer made the announcement on X, according to The Kansas City Star, which reported that the buildings pictured in his posts sit on a block near the southeast corner of West 13th and Hickory streets in the West Bottoms. Molzer told the Star the project will be a fun one, adding that more details are to come later. Molzer Development is under contract on approximately 175,000 square feet of brick-and-timber buildings in the historic district, in partnership with Free Heel Capital, with a redevelopment plan coming soon.
Free Heel Capital isn’t a new name in Molzer’s portfolio. The firm worked alongside Molzer on the conversion of the Aladdin building near Barney Allis Plaza into housing, per the Star’s reporting, a project that The Kansas City Star has separately reported turned a 193-room hotel into 122 apartments and is now open and leasing. That development team also included Cardinal Crest, according to the Star.
A Pattern of Building in Public
Molzer Development has made a habit of announcing deals on social media before filling in the specifics, and that approach has paid off in unexpected ways. According to Axios, Molzer has said the company’s social media reach has led to investors finding the firm rather than the other way around. The same report noted the company started redeveloping the Aladdin Hotel into studio and one-bedroom apartments back in 2024.
That same Axios report detailed an earlier West Bottoms purchase: an April acquisition of the Advance Thresher Co. building at 1280 Liberty St., which the firm said would house industrial space and a vintage clothing store. The Kansas City Business Journal had previously reported that Molzer Development was seeking tenants for the vacant floors of that building while still weighing what it could become in the long term, according to the Kansas City Business Journal.
A Neighborhood in the Middle of a Building Boom
Molzer’s latest announcement lands amid a wave of activity transforming the once-industrial West Bottoms. SomeraRoad has announced businesses moving into the district as part of what the Star described as a $500 million redevelopment project encompassing new housing, historic rehabs, retail and park space. A separate accounting from KCUR put the scale of SomeraRoad’s plans at an estimated $526.7 million spanning 21 acres across 13 developments, with more than 1,200 apartment units and a hotel planned.
Public improvements tied to that project, including affordable housing units, are expected to total $62 million, according to KCUR. The city has also been working on infrastructure upgrades to the West Bottoms’ streets and utilities, as reported by The Kansas City Star.
Other developers are chasing similar historic conversions nearby. West Bottoms Group has proposed rehabilitating the six-story Smith Building at 1101 Mulberry St. into 105 apartments spread across five floors, with 20 studios, 70 one-bedrooms and 15 two-bedrooms alongside first-floor commercial space, the Star reported. Port KC commissioners have given initial approval to incentives for that project worth $8.5 million in property tax breaks over 25 years.
The Kansas City Star reported the Molzer announcement without further detail on financing, timeline or the specific buildings involved beyond their location near West 13th and Hickory streets. For now, the scope of the deal remains tied to the redevelopment plan Molzer says is still coming.
