Traders National Bank

The Grand Apartments

Designed by Texas architect Thomas E. Stanley and constructed in 1962, Traders National Bank is the first commercial high-rise office building erected in downtown Kansas City to express the Modern movement design aesthetic. It was the first skyscraper added to the downtown skyline since 1937 and the first private high-rise since 1932. It was continually occupied by commercial tenants until the 20-teens. In 2015, Sunflower Development Group embarked on a plan to rehabilitate the building into a mixed-use development, with commercial on lower floors and residential on the upper floors.

Rosin Preservation has collaborated with Sunflower on numerous historic rehabilitations. Rosin prepared the National Register of Historic Places nomination and facilitated the historic tax credit process, collaborating with the architects on appropriate design and treatment to comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Careful consideration was given to the treatment of the original curtain wall, which the design team decided to restore, rather than replace. Historically, the main lobby featured an opening to the lower level, through which escalators provided a passage that had been infilled by the time the project began. The owner opted to reclaim the opening, although not the escalators, restoring a compelling feature of the lobby.

Traders now provides office space for a handful of commercial tenants and 203 residential units with rich amenities including a rooftop swimming pool, a dog park and pet spa, fitness center, theater, and digital sports lounge. Traders National Bank will continue to grace the corner of Grand and 12^th Street in downtown Kansas City for many years to come.