Russell Welsh is not a real estate lawyer, but the chairman of Polsinelli Shughart has spent much of the past year trying to hash out a deal to construct a 190,000-square-foot office building in Kansas City, Mo.’s Country Club Plaza District — a historic and popular shopping area known for its Spanish architectural style.
The added restrictions for building in a historical district have been a headache, but the need for a space that can accommodate all the firm’s local lawyers is pressing. They have been housed in separate Kansas City offices since 2009, when Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus combined with Shughart Thomson & Kilroy to become a 481-attorney firm with a heavy presence throughout Missouri.
