MO: ‘Kansas City’s most irrelevant attraction’: Old bus gets new life as KC bus stop

As plans came together for the redevelopment of the Holtman Building in Kansas City’s East Crossroads neighborhood, Zach Molzer was struck by inspiration.

The founder of Molzer Development pitched an outlandish notion for the sidewalk at the intersection of 18th and Holmes streets: a bus stop built from a bus. A bus bus stop.

The idea stuck, and plans for what the developer calls “Kansas City’s most irrelevant attraction” began to roll forward. Transit officials were supportive of the idea, and the developer purchased a decommissioned RideKC bus to turn into a bus shelter.

The old bus was towed to a metalworker who is starting to shape the new bus stop, and the finished product — part sidewalk art piece, part practical fixture — will be installed in the coming months.

“Yes, it’s a functioning bus stop, but at the same time, it’s the most irrelevant attraction,” Molzer said. “I want people when they come to Kansas City, for better or for worse, you have on the list, you gotta go to Joe’s, you gotta go to Union Station. I want on that list, for random reasons, to be, ‘Hey, we gotta go check out that wack-ass bus bus stop thing.’”

The idea has already begun to attract eyeballs. Molzer’s firm began documenting the story of the bus bus stop in a series of social media videos, and they’ve grabbed viral attention. The first video posted in November announcing plans for the bus stop has been viewed 330,000 times on Instagram.

“Bus stops are traditionally looked upon as a crime-ridden place, low-income and not fun, which is unfortunate because our city desperately needs more public transit,” Molzer says in the video. “Then came the question, how can I change the narrative of public transit with just one bus stop? It starts by making this bus stop actually cool. Not nasty.”

Molzer Development is churning away at the redevelopment of the Holtman Building, giving it new life with first-floor office space, eight lofts on the second floor and a rooftop bar. Work on the building began over the summer, and Molzer’s goal is to have the project finished in May.

The developer is getting a 15-year, 75% property tax exemption on the project through the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority’s Sustaining Transportation and Reinvesting Together (START) program, which is designed to incentivize development along transit corridors. The Holtman Building sits along RideKC’s Troost MAX bus line, and under an agreement with KCATA, Molzer’s group will put in the refreshed bus stop for the route along Holmes Street.

Michael Riley, who oversees the START program for KCATA, said he believed the bus stop would be the first of its kind in the region.

“I would love to see more creative ways to engage the public to use public transportation,” Riley said. “Hopefully this will be a catalyst for more developers to find ways to partner with us, especially utilizing START bonds to find more creative ways to make public transportation more attractive to the public.”

The bus stop, crafted by Mammoth Metals, will have seats and look like a bus cross-section, with a chunk cut off and a front shadow box area that can hold advertising or a mannequin with a holiday look.

As a bus pulls up to the stop to drop off and pick up riders, it’ll appear for a moment that the two will collide.

The stop will be lit up and attractive, and Molzer thinks the new addition will help the neighborhood and the new bar. He hopes people will want to stop by for pictures.

“It’s one project,” he said, “but if you can change the narrative of public transit, especially in a city that needs more of it, I think that it can shine more of a light on, ‘Hey it’s needed, it’s useful, it’s helpful.’”

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