Owners promised revamp of historic KCK building. Instead small businesses feel forced out

Dr. Miralda Moreno is still smiling.

Over nearly 20 years, her family dentistry has served a population in need out of what is commonly known as the Brotherhood Building at Eighth Street and State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. She built her practice there from the ground up, offering Medicaid and voucher assistance to patients who rely on those services.

But her upbeat attitude comes despite the future of her business hanging in limbo. And as the Brotherhood Building, a nationally designated historic place, has fallen into a state of serious disrepair and neglect.

In recent months, the building lost hot water, janitorial upkeep disappeared and the elevators suddenly stopped working. Heating and cooling have created an untenable environment at times, forcing the dental practice to close. And upper floors of the building are accessible only by staircase, where visitors are greeted by the stench of dirty water emanating from the basement.

Absent running hot water, Moreno says she has been forced to fill a bowl in the sink and use the microwave to make temporary dental crowns. And she feels like she is being pushed out of her office space — even though she desperately wants to stay.

“Thank God I have a wonderful reputation and loyal patients,” Moreno told The Star recently during a tour of her office. “I’m ready to sign with a new owner and come and make this place beautiful. It’s got potential.”

The dentistry is among the few small businesses that remain in the Brotherhood Building, once a vibrant center of downtown KCK commerce. It was until recently the headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers as well as the Bank of Labor, formerly known as Brotherhood Bank and Trust.

Tenants — including the Boilermakers and Bank of Labor — have packed up and gone after ownership of the building transferred to development company KDG LLC, which bought the building from the Boilermakers in 2019.

After KDG took over the building, and other neighboring properties in what is known as the Brotherhood Block, the owners pitched redevelopment to include apartments and small business. But those appear to have fallen flat amid dire financial problems.

“They bought it and had big plans, and had a great vision for how they were going to help us revitalize the downtown,” said Greg Kindle, president of the Wyandotte County Economic Development Council. “And we were super excited to have them come in, and they were heavily engaged in our conversations and looking at what that quarter could look like.”

Recently the Morenos and other tenants were named as parties to a foreclosure lawsuit being pursued by a lender to KDG claiming default on a $5.3 million loan. In the past months, the situation has bred uncertainty as management of the property has been taken over by a third party.

A Wyandotte County District Court judge appointed Block Real Estate Services to manage the property. Reached by phone Monday, Scott Cordes, the company’s chief operating officer, said his role as receiver is to help find solutions for all parties involved as the court process plays out.

“None of these issues were created by Block Real Estate Services,” Cordes said. “We are only acting on behalf of the judge to try and get as much of this cleaned up as we can and as quickly and as efficiently as we can.”

Efforts by The Star to reach owners of KDG, Patrick and Kevin Kearns, by email and phone were unsuccessful Monday.

Another layer came late Monday morning as the Brotherhood Building was tagged as unfit for human habitation by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. Krystal McFeders, a Unified Government spokeswoman, said code violations in support of that designation include no running hot water or working elevators.

Under the Unified Government’s process, a hearing will be held April 11 with the property owner to review violations the inspector found. If the designation is upheld, an order to vacate would be enforced the following day.

A move would be a serious cost. Moreno says she has invested about $1 million into her current setup, which includes nitrous lines and other specialty equipment that is difficult to relocate.

And she says her patients in Kansas City, Kansas, still need her there to provide a service of quality and affordable dental care.

“I don’t want to leave. I’ve been here for 20 years,” Moreno said.

“And not only am I a thriving business here, but we give back to the community. We’ve taken an investment into the community, invested in the people here and given back. We do so much. I love this community.”

Financial woes

Built to its current height of 10 stories in 1949, the New Brotherhood Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places along with other neighboring properties in the Brotherhood Block. Buildings on the block date back to 1910 in what was first known as the Wahlenmaier Building along Minnesota Avenue, according to historical documents from the Unified Government.

In the 1920s, the Wahlenmaier Building was purchased by the Boilermakers as the union’s headquarters, and three stories were added on top. Expansions and connection to the New Brotherhood Building began in 1948 as membership within the international labor union reached a new height post-World War II.

The New Brotherhood Building remained in the hands of the Boilermakers until the purchase by current owner KDG in 2019.

The company had submitted plans to the county in 2022 to redevelop the historic landmark with apartments and retail. But those plans did not materialize.

Purchase of the building came with a promise to offer market-rate housing and offices downtown — a key area eyed for KCK development — in part through the use of historic tax credits. Instead, as the Brotherhood Building has fallen into receivership, some are concerned that the tenants have been mistreated.

“Many of the businesses that are in there have been there for a long time,” said Kindle of the Economic Development Council. “And they’ve been good small businesses here in Wyandotte County, Kansas City, Kansas. And so we don’t like it when they’re not treated well.”

“They’re paying rent. They’ve been good tenants. And we need to figure out a way to work with KDG and the operator of the building to help make sure that those tenants are treated right.”

In October, lender NuBridge Commercial filed suit in Wyandotte County District Court against KDG and company representatives Kevin and Patrick Kearns, saying a $5.3 million taken out on the mortgaged property was in default. Under the terms of the loan, opened in June 2022, KDG was required to make monthly payments of roughly $44,000 to cover the interest alone.

A serious blow to the owners’ finances appears to have come when the Bank of Labor relocated its office space in late December. According to court documents, the move came after mismanagement of the building’s boiler that caused climate control issues, severe flooding on the upper floors and a partial collapse of the Bank of Labor’s ceiling in the basement office area.

The Bank of Labor is now suing KDG seeking the return of a $60,000 security deposit plus claimed damages exceeding $75,000.

In February, a Wyandotte County judge ordered the property to go into receivership. Under the order, Block Real Estate Services is authorized to collect rents and modify lease agreements as necessary.

‘We’re kind of caught in the middle’

Among the other longtime tenants of the Brotherhood Building is Gary Stone, a criminal defense lawyer whose office has been there for 26 years. He told The Star he is planning to move out as soon as possible as the state of the building has become too embarrassing to host clients.

It was once a great place to work, Stone said, with a restaurant downstairs, a full gym, pool, sauna and steam room in the basement.

Promises from the new owners included the possibility of new townhomes in the area, along with new windows and new air conditioners.

“First year was great, and then they just kind of disappeared,” Stone said of the building’s owners. “And then without warning … They send us a letter that says ‘Oh, by the way, we’re in default of our loan and our main tenant has left. And we know you got your own business, you might want to take care of yourselves.’”

Kimberly DeWitt, who runs a small consultancy firm, moved her office into the building roughly one year ago.

A native Kansas City, Kansan, she was lured in by the glow of working in a place with great historic significance. She noticed some issues at the outset, but had been led to believe the Brotherhood Building was on the rise.

“Knowing that the building was supposed to be going through some renovation gave me a little bit of comfort that OK, I’m in this historical building, it’s got a little personality, it’s going to improve over time,” DeWitt said.

Then there were simple issues going unfixed. She recalled trying to have maintenance install new lights in her office for months before resigning to buy them and do the job herself.

Housekeeping started to fall off too, she said, and the climate inside the building was uncontrolled no matter the season. She said clients in her office were warmed in the colder months thanks to a space heater she brought in.

As the present situation has unfolded, DeWitt said she believes there may be efforts at play to push out remaining tenants. She says she is still under a lease agreement. And overall, the small business owners are not in a “very good position.”

“We’re kind of caught in the middle,” she said. “And we all have businesses to run.”

For Moreno, the dentist, the hope to stay in the building has come at the cost of added time and effort on her part as well as her husband Eric Mangum, a pharmacist by trade who works as the office manager.

Mangum has spent his own time and money cleaning bathrooms and restocking paper goods. He has also tried to keep the hallways clean to present the best environment in common areas possible when patients come in.

Of late, the most pressing concern for Moreno and Mangum has been the lack of working elevators. They say appointments have been affected as many patients they treat are elderly and may have trouble using the stairs.

One recent treatment for a denture had to be moved to a neighboring dentist’s office, who let them use the space out of goodwill.

Another patient, Anna Todd, 91, told The Star on Monday she was surprised to see how empty the parking lot was at the Brotherhood Building when she visited the Moreno office to have her teeth cleaned. It was hot inside, she said, and she learned she would have to use the stairs.

Todd said she relies on Moreno’s office because she does not have health insurance. And she would hate to see her leave as the practice always has a “very friendly atmosphere.”

“Usually you kind of dread going to the dentist,” Todd said. “But it’s a pleasure for me going. Everybody is just so loving and caring and striving to do everything that needs to be done.”

“I would just hate for the building to close down,” she added. “Because it would be sad for Wyandotte County.”