Revitalization Unlimited Data Center, Kansas City, Missouri

Revitalization Unlimited, a Miami developer, wanted to demolish the three-story Western Newspaper Union building at 304 West 10th Street in the Quality Hill neighborhood of Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, and put up a 20-story, 384-foot data center with shops on the ground floor. The Kansas City Plan Commission voted 6 to 0 to reject the plan on August 5, 2026, after 55 people testified and the city received 475 letters opposing it, with none in support.

Megan Haave told the commission: "It will not house, feed, or clothe residents. It will not increase civic pride or public trust." Ethan Starr, executive director of Historic Kansas City, pointed out that the building had been bought on a preservation argument: "The Western Newspaper Union's building acquisition was presented as a preservation-oriented investment ... Now, instead, the city is being asked to approve demolition."

Commissioner Matt Hasek said: "It's not a productive use of downtown space. And I find it ironic, too, that the historic building that you're wanting to tear down has more productive capacity than what you're offering, almost twice as much as the 20-story building."

The developer can appeal to the city council, though Mayor Quinton Lucas said a reversal was "highly unlikely and would not have my support." Two groups, Sunrise Movement KC and KC Data Center Watchdog, are pressing for a complete ban, and a data center transparency task force ordinance went to a council committee on August 11.