Ed de Avila will tell you. Twenty-six years ago he had a gut feeling he’d one day return.
It was 1998, and for three years, de Avila had been vice president at the J.C. Nichols Co. in charge of development on the Country Club Plaza He lived in Mission Hills; his kids went to St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School.
It was a time when Kansas City’s iconic Spanish-styled shopping district was still great and prospering and de Avila was the guy creating the mix of tenants, shepherding construction, making sure the Plaza was unique and special beyond any mall. When Planet Hollywood looked to come to the Plaza, de Avila was the one who turned them down as not unique enough, calling the chain “Planet Everywhere.”…