KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The former Environmental Protection Agency building on the bluffs of Kaw Point in downtown KCK has a new owner.
The University of Kansas Health System announced Wednesday they have purchased the building at 901 N. 5th St. as part of a $61 million project.
Exact terms of the deal weren’t disclosed in a news release.
Plans call for the building to be used for a mental and behavioral health facility.
A one-year renovation project at the building will create a 112,000 square-foot, 47 bed unit for short-term inpatient mental and behavioral health patients. The remainder of the space will house administrative functions.
Built in 2000 for the EPA, the building, which had been leased to the EPA but owned by a private ownership group, has been vacant since 2013 when the EPA moved to a location in Lenexa.
“There is a demand for short term psychological help in a traditional inpatient setting in our region,” University of Kansas Health System Vice President Chris Ruder said in the release. “This initiative supports our efforts to provide even more advanced care to those who need it most, and our commitment to continue to grow in Wyandotte County.”
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