After coffee, calm: Messenger co-founder, partner envision West Bottoms bathhouse as retreat from what has been

Nearly a year in the works, a first floor space in an 1890s-era West Bottoms warehouse is open and envisioned as the place for a “ritual of pause.”

The hot tub at Klā Sanctuary; courtesy photo

Klā Sanctuary — with its special spa baths and body-oriented treatments — and the tea-focused Selah Lounge share the 6,000-square-foot spot at 1400 W. 13th St.

Matthew Matsch and Kathryn McCormick, founders and managing partners in Klā (pronounced “clay”), boast the backing of more than a dozen local investors who “care about projects that support a better lifestyle in Kansas City,” they said.

McCormick grew up studying dance, mostly contemporary, in Georgia. Then she moved to Los Angeles at 18 to pursue it as a career.

“As an artist, as a dancer, I’m always using my body to tell a story,” she said. “I started studying connection, our nervous system, regulation and the stress response. What causes stress. How can I have a sustainable lifestyle and share that with other people including my students?”

She met Matsch four years ago. He was co-founder of crowd-pleasing Messenger Coffee alongside his brother, Chris Matsch, Nick Robertson, Kiersten Rex, and Brandon Wilson. (The company was acquired by FairWave Holdings in 2020 and now is led by entrepreneur Isaac Hodges.)

“I needed time to pause, and became more and more interested in wellness practices, eating healthier; time and space to reflect and build healthier lifestyle practices,” Matsch said. “I fell in love with the ritual of pause.”

They started renovating the West Bottoms space in September.

The integration lounge within Klā Sanctuary; courtesy photo

The brick building’s origins are not fully known. It predates the Kansas City Public Library’s building permits collection, which begins in 1907; and it was not on an 1891 map, but present on a 1895 insurance map, which lists it as the Henney Buggy Company (with the Economist Plow and Columbia Drill companies in the warehouse in back), according to a special collections researcher.

DRAW Architecture + Urban Design LLC was the architect for Klā. Its office is already on the third floor of the three-story building. Matsch and McCormick collaborated with DRAW on interior design ideas for the venture, incorporating the original brick walls, wood floors and exposed vaulted ceilings.

“We wanted to showcase the quality of what was created historically,” Matsch said. “We wanted to make sure to honor the craftsmanship that we were inheriting.”

Arches inside Klā Sanctuary at 1400 W. 13th St.; courtesy photo

Customers enter through the east side of the building.

Selah Lounge, on the left, is open to the public.

Luna Patterson pours a drink at Selah Lounge; courtesy photo

The tea-focused lounge uses products from Crown Center’s Shang’s Tea House, and crafted specialty drinks such caffeine-free chicory root lattes and cortados, mushroom maple lattes, matcha lattes and more — sweetened with coconut sugar, wood-fired maple syrup or honey, and all organic or regenerative (supporting farming practices that improve soil health and ensure fair treatment for farmers). 

“The goal is for it to feel like a ceremony in a cup,” Matsch said.

Selah Lounge also offers pour-over Messenger Coffee and an assortment of Shang’s gluten-free moon cakes. Matsch’s family have been Shang’s customers nearly since he opened the tea house about two decades ago. 

Klā Sanctuary is to the right of the lounge.

Customers can buy a 90-minute spa sanctuary pass to the four baths, inspired by ancient practices: 104-degree therme bath; cold bath (about 70 degrees); warm bath (98 degrees); and a float bath (which has more salt than the other baths).

“The cold plunge is 70 degrees, but we want (city approvals) to get it down to 55 to 60,” Matsch said. “Part of doing something original to the city is creating new regulations. My hope is we can inspire the different departments that inspect different projects to have an open mind and focus on the relative science.”

He wants to focus not on what has been, but what’s possible, he said.

The bathhouse also has an infrared sauna; herbal steam room with cold shower; and a salt altar using Himalayan salt for a body scrub. 

Customers can book one of the three body-focused treatment rooms offering a choice of massages including Swedish, deep tissue, Thai herbal, heat stone, and prenatal, along with seaweed wraps — all using organic products.

In the couples treatment room, they first relax with a tea ceremony. It also has a shower.

Fees start at $105 for 90 minutes in the bathhouse. Treatments include 60 minutes in the bathhouse. For example, a 60-minute Swedish massage with a 60-minute spa sanctuary access is $230.

The space also features a locker room, showers, large powder room for changing clothes, and swimsuit dryers. 

“We want it to feel like a local retreat. We wanted to create a beautiful experience, high-quality but as affordable as possible,” Matsch said. “Some people might go once a month, once a week, or once a year. A place to pause.”

Hours are expected to be 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Startland News contributor Joyce Smith covered local restaurants and retail for nearly 40 years with The Kansas City Star. Click here to follow her on Bluesky, here for X (formerly Twitter), here for Facebook, here for Instagram, and by following #joyceinkc on Threads.