One of Kansas City’s Tallest Buildings in 1914

The address the Kansas City Star called “the most conspicuous building on the skyline” in 1914 doesn’t stand out that much today.

But the St. Regis Hotel, which has stood solidly at the northeast corner of Linwood and The Paseo for 100 years, was once the tallest building outside of downtown and one of the most prestigious places to live.

Photo courtesy Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library

The idea for the St. Regis began as Kansas City was experiencing a population boom. At the same time, the new parks and boulevards system offered new routes and led to the development of new parts of the city to the south of the old city center downtown. Property values along boulevards had increased between 200 and 500 percent, according to the Historic Register nomination for the St. Regis, as developers built apartment hotels to replace mansions with more dense multi-family “apartment hotels, ” which offered apartments with luxury amenities and services.

Real estate broker and developer Howard Vrooman and investor Henry Owen saw a chance to use the new reinforced concrete technology to build a nine-story building on a narrow urban lot. They hired the architecture firm of Owen and Payson, known for designing a “better class of buildings.” They picked the Italian Renaissance Revival style, which fit the extravagant and detailed mood of the public.

And they figured they had the perfect location – at the intersection of luxurious Linwood and another new boulevard called The Paseo.

Their instincts appeared correct because the luxury hotel attracted millionaire Theodore Gary, who had moved into one of the building’s suites when it opened. Other prominent Kansas Citians joined him in the towering hotel. However, the building also attracted single folks and young couples who had not started a family.

According to the Historical Register form, residents entered the St. Regis through a lavish lobby with silk draperies, a piano, and intricate furnishings. A first-floor restaurant served both residents and the public. The basement housed a billiards room “where a novel ventilation system granted players the luxury of smoking with impunity.” The 9^th floor included an elaborate ballroom.

By the 1970s, St. Regis, like many other luxury apartment hotels, had been converted to low-income housing.