Kansas City residents are raising questions about whether Revitalization Unlimited's proposal for a high-rise data center is designed to maximize its tax breaks for preserving one of downtown's historic buildings.
Revitalization Unlimited partnered with The Barn Group, a Georgia-based land trust, to put a historic preservation easement on the 126-year-old Western Newspaper Union building at 934 Central Street, Kansas City, Missouri.
"We recognize the significance of the Western Newspaper Union building and its place in the neighborhood's history," said Steve Austin, CEO of Revitalization Unlimited. "How the redevelopment and the easement relate to one another is part of the review now underway, and we're committed to working through that process with the city and community rather than prejudging the outcome."
This legal agreement protects the integrity of a historic site, and any major developments or subdivisions must be both reviewed and authorized by the land trust.
Revitalization Unlimited's business model
In an explainer video to potential investors, Austin said that one of its business strategies evaluates ways to redevelop the property to its maximum potential, optimizing charitable deductions for lost redevelopment opportunities.
"When we place an HPE on a property, it allows us to take a charitable deduction for the lost opportunity had we redeveloped the building to its maximum potential," Austin said.
According to the project's architect Geoff Bird of Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the proposed development would meet growing demands for urban data centers. A large one at that, with 19 floors dedicated to the data center.
Under this strategy, the developer would hire construction consultants, like engineers and architects, to design the redevelopment project and hire a qualified appraiser to estimate the project's value.
"The remaining value is the lost profit our investors would forgo by choosing the option to protect the current building rather than redevelop the property," Austin said. "This lost opportunity is approximately what our investors will receive as a charitable deduction."
The deadline to claim the tax break is Oct. 15, 2026.
Austin said the business model often has a 12-year lifespan. They target a five-to-seven-year hold period on the real estate and business portfolio before liquidating some of the assets back to its investors.
Revitalization Unlimited would also collect rent rolls from tenants within those five years before they decide to sell the property – usually under a fund they manage through the 1031 exchange – giving a return that is three times more than what they initially invested.
What could they do with the building?
Downtown Neighborhood Association Planning and Development Chair Nick Morris said they hosted a public pre-development meeting with Revitalization Unlimited in March 2026.
Austin laid out the downtown data center proposal, stating the project would require demolishing the Western Newspaper Union.
Managers of the fund officially submitted the data center plans to the city in June, according to CompassKC.
The fund also purchased the 121-year-old Garment House in 2025 and placed the same easement with The Barn Group. The KC Business Journal reported that renovation plans for the building are tentative, but some floors could be converted for hospitality use.
Grace Snyder, a 32-year-old Kansas City resident and member of Sunrise Movement KC, said demolition of the building's historic properties would pose a legal risk to Revitalization Unlimited with the easement in place.
"For them to try and demolish the building now, they will have to go against that easement, and they would put themselves, to my understanding, in legal risk," Snyder said.
Ethan Starr, executive director of the nonprofit organization Historic Kansas City, said that because the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, future designs would have to be reviewed by the Historic Preservation Commission, alongside city officials.
Ultimately, the project's viability will be decided by The City Planning Commission in August. The public is invited to provide testimony at that time. Austin says the data center proposal remains a priority.
"The tax deduction and the city's review process aren't connected. Our priority is working with the city to ensure the land-use decision is thoroughly considered," Austin said.
Who is this proposal for?
The data center proposal has faced significant pushback by local residents and community groups, with some expressing environmental concerns while others question the validity of the project.
But many feel that the proposal is using the city's cultural growth as a way to maximize profit without real return to the local community.
"I think people here have worked really, really hard to grow Kansas City into something," Snyder said. "The growth of downtown over my lifetime has been enormous … and it feels really frustrating to have that taken advantage of by someone from out of town who doesn't care about the cultural legacy of our city."
Councilmembers Crispin Rea and Eric Bunch also opposed the development, citing its minimal benefit to the city, the need to preserve the historic architecture, and concerns about the developer's motives.
"The developer has proposed constructing a high-rise data center that will add few employees and zero residents," they said in a July 27 joint statement. "This proposal does not contribute to downtown's growth."
Starr questions whether "demolishing a National Register-listed building from 1900 — in the heart of downtown — is an appropriate means of accommodating that use."
But Morris said the fund's lack of transparency heightens skepticism about their future investments' benefit to the city.
"There are developers that are deeply passionate about our city and have been here a long time and are invested," Morris said. "We love to see the town grow, but it needs to be done in an ethical way."
The City Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the development plan on Aug. 5, 2026, at City Hall, 414 East Twelfth Street.
"The building deserves to be saved. That deserves to be remembered," Snyder said. "I'm glad this building is being highlighted for people, but it shouldn't have been threatened to begin with."
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