KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The nearly 100-year-old Country Club Plaza Tennis Center may soon be a thing of the past.
On Tuesday, Kansas City, Missouri, officials announced they were seeking proposals to redevelop the site of the Plaza tennis courts into a mixed-use development.
Ideally, the city is seeking new development that would include residential multi-family housing, the relocation of the tennis courts to another location, ground-floor retail and public spaces, community engagement and a nod toward the historic architecture of the Plaza.
The development would be next door to a stop on the KC Streetcar’s Main Street Extension.
As such, the city would look for a development focused on transit and higher densities that would prioritize alternate modes of transportation besides the personal automobile.
“The city of Kansas City is seeking a developer and redevelopment ideas for the historic Plaza Tennis Courts site in the heart of the Country Club Plaza District,” a release from the city read Tuesday.
The city plans “extensive conversations” with neighborhood stakeholders. Any sale of the land would require approval by the Kansas City, Missouri, Parks and Recreation Board, the city council and the public through a ballot measure.
The tennis center is located on the eastern part of the Plaza just south of Mill Creek Park. The facility, originally built in 1928, hosts 14 lighted tennis courts.
The parks and recreation department recently completed the resurfacing of all 14 courts. The United States Tennis Association’s Missouri Valley Chapter is managing the facility for the remainder of 2024.
The courts are home to the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s women’s tennis team, the men’s and women’s tennis teams at Rockhurst University, the boys tennis team at Rockhurst High School and the girls tennis team at St. Theresa’s Academy.
Redevelopment proposals are being accepted through Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.
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