It held offices for 130 years in Kansas City. Now downtown building reopens as hotel

Uniquely KC is a Star series exploring what makes Kansas City special. From our award-winning barbecue to rich Midwestern history, we’re exploring why KC is the “Paris of the Plains.”

A new hotel opening in Kansas City’s downtown has a 130-year history with a fiery interlude.

The AC Hotel Kansas City Downtown opened Thursday, Oct. 10, at the historic office building located on the southwest corner of 9th Street and Grand Boulevard. This Marriott property is in the Rialto Building, also known as the Ozark National Life Building.

The 239-room hotel is aimed at business travelers and groups, said to Corey Napier, director of sales and marketing. Rooms typically range from $189 to $229 a night , according to Napier.

Contrasting with the historic facade, the guest rooms are entirely new, decorated in gray tones with white accents . Napier described the hotel room design as “sleek and geometric.”

Napier said that contractors cut a shaft in the center of the building so each hotel room would get a window.

The hotel features seven meeting rooms, a fitness room and a 24-hour coffee bar. This is the second Kansas City location of the AC Hotel brand. The other is on Westport Road.

The first iteration of the Rialto Building was constructed in 1887 to hold “about 100 physicians, dentists and other tenants, four stores, a real estate office and a barber shop,” according to The Kansas City Star’s archives.



Then, in the early hours of Dec. 23, 1909, a janitor heard an explosion in the five-story building. He ran through heavy smoke to alert doctors sleeping in the building, The Star reported at the time. The blaze destroyed the original building.

The building standing today was finished in 1912. The property owner told The Star less than three months after the blaze, “Four or five floors will be equipped especially for physicians and dentists. I am doing this because many of the old Rialto Building tenants asked to have office rooms.”

The structure was re-christened the Ozark National Life Building after the insurance company moved their offices to the top floors in 1968. An advertisement in The Star touted the building’s new mid-century features such as carpeted hallways and “office decor of wood paneling & vinyl fabrics.”



Have more questions about development in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com .