Thomas Friestad
@thomasfriestad.bsky.social
Development reporter covering who's building what, for whom and at what cost, with the Kansas City Business Journal. NoVA native turned Midwesterner by way of Mizzou J-School. Catch me running, reading, traveling, playing Smash or (re)watching Survivor.
The AI overlords can pry the em dash from my cold dead hands—I’m not giving it up!
Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan on X)@markanthonyneal.bsky.social · 4d agoMore Typos, Fewer Em Dashes: Writers Are Creating an Anti-AI ‘Literary Counterculture’ Novelists, journalists, and power LinkedIn posters are embracing first-person narratives and idiosyncrasies to avoid being mistaken for chatbots. www.wired.com/story/more-t...
The McGee for Jackson County PAC in March received $50,000 from a St. Louis campaign organization that later received that same amount tied to the developer behind a housing proposal withdrawn by the County Legislature. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
$50K contribution to Jackson County legislator linked to developer - Kansas City Business Journal
The McGee for Jackson County PAC in March received $50,000 from a St. Louis campaign organization that later received that same amount tied to the developer behind a housing proposal withdrawn by the ...
bizjournals.com
"Look, I get it—I have six meetings today, seven tomorrow, and fourteen on Friday. I have four breakfast meetings, and I’m going to eat four breakfasts, because that’s how much I care about communication."
Let’s Have a Meeting to Plan Our Next Meeting
“Thanks, everybody, for coming to this meeting on such short notice. Let me cut right to the chase: I’m worried about our lack of communication. I know it fe...
buff.ly
More than 200 new apartments planned for years at a former Midtown call center site got internal approval from planning staff earlier this month. Site now could exceed 360 units across adaptive reuse and new-build phases. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
Midtown development quietly wins approval to add 202 apartments on parking lot site - Kansas City Business Journal
More than 200 new apartments planned for years at a former Midtown call center site got internal approval from planning staff.
bizjournals.com
www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
As Royals work through stadium mixed-use plans, new plan documents show (some) updates - Kansas City Business Journal
The Royals' tumultuous engagement session came shortly after team representatives filed revised rezoning plans with a few new kernels.
bizjournals.com
Our latest Country Club Plaza cover story digs into what lease rates retailers have paid, relative to the KC market, how that informs who can fill vacancies and how that shapes the center's identity. With data from 240 rates manually compiled over recent months: www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
Plaza retail rents soar above KC-area averages as Gillon navigates 30% vacancy rate - Kansas City Business Journal
As of 2025, the Plaza's average annual rents were well above metro averages, informing what tenants can afford to fill vacancies there.
bizjournals.com
There's some question as to just how much different governments paid for KC to host the World Cup, but known spending tops $208 million. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
Governments paid at least $208M to host World Cup in KC - Kansas City Business Journal
There's some question as to just how much different governments paid for KC to host the World Cup, but known spending tops $208 million.
bizjournals.com
www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
TIF Commission renews support for $210M Country Club Plaza infrastructure plan, with some changes - Kansas City Business Journal
KC's TIF Commission supported up to $210 million in tax redirection for new Country Club Plaza infrastructure, almost eight months after the agency last considered a slightly different incentive plan.
bizjournals.com
Some opponents question whether a 20-story data center proposed in place of a historic building is not meant for construction, but as part of a preservation fund’s strategy to maximize a charitable tax deduction. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
KC downtown neighbors ask if developer's plans for high-rise data center are real or a tax strategy - Kansas City Business Journal
Some opponents question whether a 20-story data center is being proposed in place of a historic building not for construction, but as part of a strategy to maximize potential tax breaks.
bizjournals.com
A draft financing proposal and city emails give perhaps the fullest look yet at how KC could apply different revenue streams toward Royals stadium bonds; how the latest $1.9B cost estimate breaks down; and a possible funding gap. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
Royals stadium documents offer glimpse at project costs, how KC could structure bonds - Kansas City Business Journal
Documents shed a little more light on funding levels and mechanisms for the city's efforts to support the Royals' downtown stadium plans.
bizjournals.com
A prominent local family recently bought a 13-story Midtown office high-rise and is sorting out what comes next. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
Here's who bought Penntower office building near streetcar, what they have in mind - Kansas City Business Journal
A prominent local family recently bought a 13-story Midtown office high-rise and is sorting out what comes next.
bizjournals.com
As private schools proliferate in Florida and across the country, fueled by taxpayer dollars, states are choosing not to closely regulate who is operating them or to oversee student safety and achievement, a ProPublica investigation found. Read this ⬇️⬇️ www.propublica.org/article/priv...
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed legislation that could offer major state incentives to KC stadium projects, expansion of the Power & Light District and downtown high-rises. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
Missouri governor signs bill creating incentives that could fund KC stadiums, expand Power & Light - Kansas City Business Journal
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed legislation that could help fund construction of stadiums in KC, expansion of the Power & Light District and downtown high-rises.
bizjournals.com
The Country Club Plaza's ownership floated a new incentive request after the prior one saw intense public pushback in December. Here's what changed between then and now. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
Country Club Plaza revisits controversial Port KC incentives, newly revised after 7-month lull - Kansas City Business Journal
The Country Club Plaza's ownership floated a new incentive request after the prior one saw intense public pushback in December. Here's what changed between then and now.
bizjournals.com
Apparent city permitting oversights and Royals-related delays created a need for Overland Park to update Aspiria's master plan so an upcoming hotel and restaurants would not be barred from opening. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
Overland Park revises Aspiria plan to avoid hotel, restaurant delays after Royals uncertainty - Kansas City Business Journal
Apparent city permitting oversights and Royals-related delays created a need for Overland Park to update Aspiria's master plan so an upcoming hotel and restaurants would not be barred from opening.
bizjournals.com
A Royals affiliate made the team's first known property purchase, beyond a contract or loan acquisition, of their four-plus year stadium process — of Blue KC's old HQ near, but not within the current bounds of, their 90.8-acre Crown Center ballpark district. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
Royals affiliate buys former Blue KC headquarters from Crain near ballpark district - Kansas City Business Journal
A Royals affiliate now owns a big commercial property near, but not yet within, the team's outlined 90.8-acre Crown Center ballpark district.
bizjournals.com
KCRep has discussed potentially converting the Plaza Theater Building as its next home after its agreement with UMKC for use of Spencer Theatre ends in 2029. Concept would mark a neat return to form for this 1928 building if it comes to pass. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
KCRep weighs potential future Country Club Plaza theater after leaving longtime UMKC stage - Kansas City Business Journal
"Past is prologue" is a common thematic element in the theater. It might be true for theater real estate, too.
bizjournals.com
An NPR story published on Tuesday morning that conservative Justice Samuel Alito had announced his retirement. But Alito never made that announcement. NPR quickly took the story down and replaced it with an editor’s note. Here's how it happened: www.poynter.org/commentary/2...
How NPR published a Supreme Court retirement that never happened - Poynter
Nina Totenberg misheard a Supreme Court announcement, leading NPR to mistakenly report that Justice Samuel Alito was retiring
poynter.org
witnessing the birth of a new all timer post is such a beautiful thing
Branching paths could lie ahead for KC’s former Federal Reserve building should council members approve an ordinance tomorrow letting the city initiate receivership proceedings. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
KC Council may start receivership process for blighted Fed building. Then what? - Kansas City Business Journal
Branching paths lie ahead for KC's blighted former Fed building should council members initiate a receivership process.
bizjournals.com
The KC Current would voluntarily backstop up to $235 million in bonds to expand CPKC Stadium to 18,000 seats on the Berkley Riverfront if future TIF projections don't pan out. (So this -is- something professional sports teams can do...) www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
Kansas City Current seeks city support to expand CPKC Stadium to 18,000 seats - Kansas City Business Journal
The KC Current would voluntarily backstop up to $235 million in bonds to expand CPKC Stadium to 18,000 seats on the Berkley Riverfront.
bizjournals.com
Today brings our first look at preliminary master plans for the Royals' proposed ballpark district around Crown Center. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
Royals Crown Center ballpark district plan shows where stadium would go, parking - Kansas City Business Journal
Royals representatives officially filed preliminary master plans for a Crown Center ballpark district. Here's how much parking it could have.
bizjournals.com
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
My husband and son dived to see the wreck of the Titanic, and never came back – this is what happened at sea
Christine Dawood found herself trapped on the ship, waiting for signs that the Titan submersible carrying her family would surface. She talks in detail for the first time about those harrowing four da...
theguardian.com
Ability KC plans a $56.5 million renovation of HNTB's former Quality Hill offices as a community-driven campus that will consolidate its Midtown facilities once open in 2028. www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n...
KC nonprofit acquires Quality Hill office site to consolidate facilities - Kansas City Business Journal
A KC nonprofit serving children and adults with rehabilitation needs will move its Midtown facilities to a $56.5 million new campus in Quality Hill.
bizjournals.com
First: save the trees. Second: party with the Dutch. The Lorax was THRIVING 😂
