The St. Regis Hotel at Linwood and the Paseo is set for renovation after receiving state tax credits. According to a 1914 Kansas City Star article, “a new altitude record was established” when the hotel was built. At one time, its ninth floor ballroom was the highest point in Kansas City.
A $13.5 million renovation of the historic St. Regis Hotel in Midtown is moving forward after getting state affordable housing tax credits.
The $1.1 million in tax credits completes financing needed to begin work this summer renovating the building that opened in 1915, the Kansas City Star reported last week.
The project is for senior citizen apartments in the 85-unit building at the northwest corner of Linwood Avenue and the Paseo.
It is on the city register of historic places and was a toney family hotel in its early days, featuring Mrs. Searcy’s Tea Cup Inn on the first floor.
The St. Regis in 1920. Photo courtesty Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri.
Back then, a steel magnate there occupied the largest hotel suite in town, The Kansas City Star reported in a 1977 article on its history.
French marble lined the lower halls and parlors when it opened, and the basement billiard room had a special ventilation system that sucked away the tobacco smoke “that springs jauntily from the lips of the players.”
The building was designed by architects Owens & Payson, who designed many area residences and commercial buildings, including the Ararat Shrine Temple at 222 W. 11th St.
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