Historic Troost space getting restocked; long-vacant Safeway next on Screenland’s grocery list
September 24, 2024 | Joyce Smith
A one-story, long-empty, red brick building on Troost is now on the National Register of Historic Places — and set for new uses that reflect the modern-first vision behind its original construction.
The former Safeway building at 3740 Troost Ave.; photo by Joyce Smith
Redevelopers from Screenland Real Estate Services said the space at 3740 Troost Ave. was one of the first — if not the first — purpose-built structures (circa 1940) in Kansas City for grocery store giant Safeway.
Many more of the chain’s stores popped up across the metro and have since been demolished or put to various uses — dry cleaners, pawn shop, laundromat, auto supply store — but none restored.
Screenland has loftier plans for this former Safeway No. 357, said business partners Butch Rigby and Byron Pendleton.
The duo will use historic tax credits to help create a multi-tenant complex that will also be energy efficient. The 6,000-square-foot building will then have two or three tenants — perhaps retail, a salon, a restaurant.
“Whoever we put in there we want it to be positive for the neighborhood and bring the neighborhood forward,” said Rigby.
Safeway closed the Troost store in 1963 and then various tenants moved in — coin-operated laundry and dry cleaners, barbecue restaurant, auto repair shop and DeLaSalle school and counseling center.
Screenland started work on the building earlier this month and said it should be ready for tenants in about a year.
“The roof was just shredded. There had been an old fire,” Rigby said. “It is rare that you can restore the beauty and significant architecture in an area of town that will not support higher rents, yet we are able to deliver a beautiful, safe and fully modernized property to the small business community along Troost Avenue.”
Byron Pendleton and Butch Rigby, Screenland Real Estate Services, outside the former Safeway building at 3740 Troost Ave.; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News
Screenland has redeveloped high-profile properties in the Crossroads Arts District, Midtown, East Brookside, North Kansas City, and Kansas City, Kansas. Three are on the National Register, including Screenland Armour in North Kansas City; Granada Theatre in Kansas City, Kansas; and the Luzier Cosmetics building at Gillham Road and Linwood Boulevard in Midtown.
Rigby said Safeway used a blueprint for their intentionally-designed stores, so no matter where customers visited across the country, they would have a similar experience.
A 1942 advertisement for a new “streamlined Safeway” in The Kansas City Times proclaimed the stores were “modern, complete, convenient.”
They had expansive storefront windows (to attract attention and serve as billboards for specials), minimal ornamentation, cast stone detailing, cut stone cornices, chrome awnings, and no set-back from the sidewalk.
The interiors also were simple, designed to maximize selling space and reduce overhead.
Rigby sees them as a bridge between the full-service chain grocery stores of the 1920s and the larger supermarkets of the 1950s.
Historic enameled porcelain Benjamin reflector lights near the roof of the former Safeway building are set for restoration as part of the redevelopment at 3740 Troost Ave.; photo by Joyce Smith
The Troost location still has two green enameled porcelain Benjamin reflector lights near the roof on the south side. They will be restored, Rigby said.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March 2023.
The high-traffic spot looks out to DeLaSalle High School with two-story houses to the north, and the stone St. Mark Hope and Peace Lutheran church to the south.
Startland News contributor Joyce Smith covered local restaurants and retail for nearly 40 years with The Kansas City Star. Click here to follower on X (formerly Twitter), here for Facebook, here for Instagram, and by following #joyceinkc on Threads.
Featured Business
2024 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Panel: Teachers can’t just ‘fail fast’ with students, but plugging entrepreneurship into classrooms builds agility in both
As someone with a hand in both education and entrepreneurship, Tiffany Dixon recognizes that a gap between the two is limiting potential in Kansas City schools. “There is an ecosystem that teachers don’t realize exists around their classroom,” she explained during a “Youth: Our Future Entrepreneurs” panel discussion for Global Entrepreneurship Week – Kansas City.…
VIDEO: How KC-built Engenious Design is scaling with stealth to atmospheric heights
Editor’s note: Engenious Design is a financial supporter of Startland News. This video feature was produced through a paid partnership. From life-saving medical devices to unexpected innovations taking orbit, Engenious Design — a white label manufacturing and design firm headquartered in Prairie Village — might be Kansas City’s best-kept success story, teased Chris Justice, principal…
City zoning change melts barriers for artisanal makers building businesses in KCMO
Editor’s note: KC BizCare is a financial supporter of Startland News. This story was produced through a paid partnership. Birdie Hansen started making candles as a hobby during the pandemic, and the business quickly grew to a level beyond what she and her husband David’s home in Midtown could accommodate. Scaling operations for Effing Candle…
VC summit: It’s a great place to ‘keep your head down and build’ — but is ‘KC nice’ slowing potential?
Building a startup in Kansas City comes with a mix of unique benefits and challenges, said serial entrepreneurs Riddhiman Das and Toby Rush, who both agreed the local ecosystem is enjoying “significant” momentum — while pushing the startup scene to be “more aggressive and more brutally honest.” “When you’re on an exponential growth curve, whenever…