The Western Auto Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places under its original name the Coca-Cola Building and known for a period as the Candler Building, is a twelve-story flatiron-form commercial building at 2107 Grand Boulevard in the Crossroads district of Kansas City, Missouri.12 It was designed by Arthur C. Tufts & Co. and built in 1914 by the Swenson Construction Company for Coca-Cola interests, and it later became the headquarters of the Western Auto Supply Company, whose enormous rooftop sign — dark from about 2000 until 13 July 2018 — remains one of the most recognizable objects on the Kansas City skyline.134 The building was entered in the National Register on 18 August 1988 (reference no. 88001300) and was converted to residential condominiums as Western Auto Lofts, a redevelopment its developer dates to 2004.25

History

Coca-Cola and the 1914 building

Coca-Cola executives Asa G. Candler and Charles H. Candler selected the Grand Boulevard site in 1913 for a regional headquarters, plant and distribution center.3 The architect, Arthur Tufts, was Coca-Cola’s chief of construction and designed the company’s regional buildings to be individually distinctive rather than uniform.3 The building was completed in 1914 at a reported cost of about $425,000, topped by a Coca-Cola sign; the National Register record lists significant years of 1914 and 1915.23

The Coca-Cola sign was removed in 1928, and the building was renamed the Candler Building — after Asa Candler — in 1932.3 Precise dates for the end of Coca-Cola’s operations in the building, and the extent of bottling versus distribution carried on there, are not established on this page.

Western Auto Supply Company

The Western Auto Supply Company was founded in Kansas City in 1909 by George Pepperdine and Don Abnor Davis, beginning as a mail-order business supplying aftermarket parts for the Ford Model T.46 KCUR reports that Pepperdine leased the fourth floor of the Grand Boulevard building as corporate headquarters in 1928; Flatland reports that in 1950 a New York investor, Jerome Riker, purchased the building and sold it to Western Auto.36 The two accounts are compatible if the company was a tenant well before it became the owner, but the vault has not reconciled them against a primary source.

Western Auto’s corporate headquarters is recorded at 2107 Grand Boulevard.4 The company passed to Beneficial Corporation in 1961, went through a management-led leveraged buyout in 1985, was bought by Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1988, and was sold to Advance Auto Parts in 1998; the Western Auto brand was retired in 2003.4

The rooftop sign

The rooftop sign is the building’s defining feature and is a Kansas City landmark in its own right. KCUR dates its erection to June 1952; a Kansas City Yesterday account places the installation in the 1951–52 period after Western Auto took the building.67

The Downtown Council of Kansas City gives the sign’s dimensions as 73 feet high and 70 feet across, with 10-foot letters, and an encircling arrow 150 feet long built of about 30 tons of steel.5 Its illumination comprised roughly 2,500 incandescent bulbs, about 1,000 feet of red and green neon tubing, and some five miles of wiring.5 KCUR describes the sign as reading in “massive red letters encircled by an arrow” and likewise gives 70 by 73 feet and 30 tons.6

The sign went dark around 2000, in the period when the Western Auto brand was being absorbed by its corporate successors and the building was vacated.67 Restoration was paid for by the Western Auto Lofts Condominium Association — the building’s residents — rather than by a corporate owner, and the sign was relit at 8:45 p.m. on Friday, 13 July 2018.156 Sources describing the 2018 work mention conversion toward more energy-efficient lamping; the exact final mix of LED, incandescent and neon elements is not settled here.

Architecture

The site purchased in 1913 was triangular, and the architect carried that geometry into the design, producing the twelve-story flatiron form — a curved, wedge-shaped tower — that makes the building legible from the highways approaching downtown.13 The National Register classifies the design under “Chicago and other” styles, with a period of significance of 1900–1924; contemporary description places it in the early-twentieth-century Commercial style, following the contours of the land.23 Reported fireproof construction features — steel frame, brick cladding and an integrated sprinkler system — are attributed to the National Register nomination in secondary summaries but were not read from the nomination text for this page.

The building stands south of the downtown core along Grand Boulevard, the corridor that also carries the Power and Light Building and runs south past Union Station’s vicinity toward the Crossroads.

Residential conversion and current status

The building was converted to loft condominiums as Western Auto Lofts, part of a residential redevelopment of three historic downtown buildings by Centrum Realty & Development, which gives a completion date of 2004.58 Popular accounts variously date the conversion to 2002 and the unit count to figures between roughly 93 and 101; none of these were confirmed against a filing or a contemporaneous news report, so no unit total is asserted here.

As of 2026 the building remains in residential condominium use with the restored sign lit, and the National Register listing stands under the name Coca-Cola Building.12

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Wikipedia, “Western Auto Building” (address 2107 Grand Boulevard, Crossroads; Arthur C. Tufts & Co.; Swenson Construction Company; 1914; Coca-Cola / Candler Building names; triangular 1913 plat; Western Auto Supply headquarters; NRHP 18 August 1988, ref. 88001300; sign relit 13 July 2018 at 8:45 p.m.; loft condominium conversion) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. National Park Service, NPGallery / National Register Information System record for the Coca-Cola Building, NRIS 88001300 (listed 18 August 1988; 2101–2111 Grand Avenue, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri; architect Arthur Tufts and Swenson Construction Co.; style “Chicago and other”; period of significance 1900–1924; significant years 1914, 1915) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. curiousKC, “Why is the Western Auto Building Shaped Like That?”, Flatland (Kansas City PBS) (Asa G. and Charles H. Candler select the site in 1913; Arthur Tufts as Coca-Cola’s chief of construction; 1914 completion at about $425,000; Coca-Cola sign removed 1928; renamed Candler Building 1932; 1950 purchase by Jerome Riker and sale to Western Auto Supply Co.) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  4. Wikipedia, “Western Auto” (founded 1909 in Kansas City by George Pepperdine and Don Abnor Davis; corporate headquarters at 2107 Grand Boulevard; Beneficial 1961; 1985 leveraged buyout; Sears 1988; Advance Auto Parts 1998; brand retired 2003; sign relit July 2018) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Downtown Council of Kansas City, “Western Auto sign to light up Downtown once again” (relighting 8:45 p.m., Friday 13 July 2018; sign 73 feet high by 70 feet wide; 10-foot letters; 150-foot arrow; 30 tons of steel; about 2,500 incandescent bulbs, about 1,000 feet of red and green neon, five miles of wiring; funded by the Western Auto Lofts Condominium Association) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. KCUR 89.3, “Kansas City’s most iconic signs, from Western Auto to Town Topic,” 14 May 2022 (sign erected by June 1952; 70 by 73 feet; 30 tons; red letters encircled by an arrow; Pepperdine leases the fourth floor as corporate headquarters in 1928; sign switched off around 2000 after the Sears and Advance Auto Parts transitions; condominium association funds the 13 July 2018 relighting) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  7. KC Yesterday, “The Story of The Western Auto Sign” (Pepperdine founds Western Auto in 1909; Western Auto acquires the former Coca-Cola building and installs the sign in 1951–52; sign about 70 by 73 feet with about 2,500 bulbs and 1,000 feet of neon; building vacated and sign dark in 2000; restored and relit 13 July 2018). Note: this source gives the street number as 2015 Grand and the construction year as 1915, both of which conflict with the National Register record and are not followed here. ↩ ↩2

  8. Centrum Realty & Development, project page “Western Auto Lofts” (“Residential redevelopment of three distinctive historic buildings in downtown Kansas City”; date of completion 2004) ↩

See also

Categories
  • Concept
  • Building
  • Landmark
  • Crossroads Arts District

On the record — ks.city/wiki/buildings/western-auto-building · last revised 2026-08-13