Build Guide: Brookside, Kansas City
Brookside is a group of neighborhoods inside Kansas City, Missouri, in Jackson County, bounded roughly by 55th Street on the north, Gregory Boulevard on the south, Ward Parkway on the west, and Troost Avenue on the east. It is not a separate municipality and has no city government of its own. Building permits come from Kansas City, Missouri, not from Johnson County or from any Brookside authority.
Faust Construction builds additions, whole-house renovations, and new homes in Brookside and across the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro.
What defines Brookside
Brookside is J.C. Nichols’ Country Club District on the Missouri side, and it grew from a streetcar line. The Country Club line reached 51st and Brookside in 1908, and the neighborhood filled in behind it. The right of way is now the Harry Wiggins Trolley Track Trail, which is why the spine of Brookside is a linear park rather than an arterial.
The Brookside Shops at 63rd Street and Brookside Boulevard opened in 1919 as Kansas City’s first suburban shopping center, three years before Nichols planned the Country Club Plaza. The Country Club District went on to become the largest contiguous master-planned community in the United States, more than 6,000 acres by Nichols’ death in 1950, running across the state line into Mission Hills, Fairway, and Prairie Village.
The housing reflects the era: Tudor Revival, Georgian and Colonial Revival, Spanish, Prairie School, English Gothic, Arts and Crafts. Lots are narrower and deeper than the Johnson County suburbs that came later, and the streets read as a whole rather than as a collection of individual houses. That is deliberate, and it is enforced by three separate mechanisms.
What homeowners should know
Brookside has three overlapping rulebooks, and only one of them belongs to the city. The requirements below come from Kansas City’s Demolition Review, Overlay Districts, and Infill Lot and Building Standards pages.
Almost every house here triggers demolition review
Under Ordinance 241070, adopted December 19, 2024, Kansas City reviews all proposed demolitions of buildings over 50 years old to determine whether they meet the criteria for historic listing. In Brookside, where the bulk of the housing stock dates to the 1910s through the 1940s, that is essentially every house.
If the Historic Preservation Office finds a building ineligible, approval is administrative after a seven-day notice period to the Historic Preservation Commission and the neighborhood association. If it finds the building eligible, the matter goes to the Commission, which may impose a 45-day delay to explore alternatives. Buildings declared dangerous under Chapter 56, Article V are exempt.
A scrape-and-rebuild schedule in Brookside has to carry that gate at the front. It is not a design review and it usually does not stop a project, but it is not optional and it is not fast.
The platted building line can override the zoning setback
Kansas City’s code states it plainly: the required building setback is per the zoning table or the platted building line, whichever is greater. On Nichols-era plats, the platted line frequently governs. A setback calculated from the zoning table alone is not a reliable answer in Brookside.
The zoning table itself expresses residential setbacks as percentages: 25 percent of lot depth for front and rear yards, 10 percent of lot width for side yards. The city’s zoning information bulletin adds the caps that make those numbers usable, with the front yard not needing to exceed 30 feet in R-10, R-7.5, and R-6, and side yards not needing to exceed eight feet, or 15 feet where the yard abuts a street. On Brookside’s narrow, deep lots the percentage and the cap produce very different answers, so the governing number is worth confirming per parcel with the Permits Division.
Infill has to match the block, by ordinance
Section 88-110-07, effective January 17, 2023, applies to any residential development on an infill lot with eight or fewer units, including new construction and modifications to an existing structure. The context area is every lot lying wholly or partly within 200 feet of the subject property on the same block face.
The front setback must be no less than and no greater than the setback provided by the existing residential buildings in that context area. Height is set at 12 feet per story of the greater of the two nearest residential buildings of the same type, with an additional six feet permitted where the roof pitch falls in the range the ordinance specifies. Lot coverage is capped at 50 percent and impervious cover at 75 percent, and lot area must fall between 75 and 150 percent of the context area average.
The Wornall Homestead Overlay adds standards in part of Brookside
Ordinance 170540, adopted in August 2017, created the Wornall Homestead Overlay District in the Brookside area after a house was built noticeably closer to the street than its neighbors. Inside the overlay, maximum height is 35 feet, minimum ground-floor area is 800 square feet, lots may not be aggregated to produce a lot over 8,000 square feet, and artificial stone and metal panels are not permitted.
The overlay does not regulate architectural taste. It sets objective standards, and variances go through the Planning Department. Its boundaries are not published on the city’s overlay summary page, so whether a specific address falls inside it is a question for City Planning and Development.
Private covenants are the rulebook the city will not enforce
Nichols-era restrictive covenants control setbacks and land use across much of Brookside and run with the land. Amending them typically requires five years’ advance notice and unanimous notarized homeowner approval, which is why they have held for a century.
These are private agreements between neighbors, administered by homes associations. The city does not check them, cannot waive them, and will happily issue a permit for something a covenant forbids. Establishing which association covers an address, and what its covenants and architectural review require, belongs at the front of a project.
Historic review, permits, and licensing
Kansas City has no citywide design review board for houses. The Historic Preservation Commission reviews exterior changes only on properties that are local landmarks or sit within local historic districts, and the trigger is the Kansas City Register, not the National Register. Where it applies, a Certificate of Appropriateness must be issued before the exterior building permit.
Permits run through CompassKC. Construction must begin within 180 days and the permit must receive at least one inspection in each 180-day period after issuance. Kansas City enforces the 2018 International Residential Code and the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code. Missouri has no statewide general contractor license, so a general contractor in Kansas City needs three things: a business license from the Finance Department, a personal Certificate of Qualification in the trade, and a Contractor License for the business.
| Infill standard (88-110-07) | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Context area | Lots within 200 ft. on the same block face |
| Front setback | Equal to existing buildings in the context area |
| Height | 12 ft. per story of the greater of the two nearest same-type buildings |
| Maximum lot coverage | 50% |
| Maximum impervious cover | 75% |
| Lot area | 75% to 150% of the context area average |
| Wornall Homestead Overlay height | 35 ft. |
| Wornall Homestead minimum ground floor | 800 sq. ft. |
Why Brookside projects take local experience
Faust Construction has built in the Kansas City metro for more than 25 years, including new construction, additions, and full-home renovations on the Missouri side. Brookside is the clearest case in the metro of a place where the city permit is the easy part.
A Brookside project answers to a 1920s plat, a covenant older than the zoning code, a preservation office that reviews every teardown of a building over 50 years old, and an infill ordinance that pins the front setback to what the neighbors already did. Our pre-construction phase establishes which of those apply to a specific address, and prices the design against them, before drawings are finished rather than after.
Pre-construction
We price the design, evaluate materials and alternatives, and build a schedule that accounts for city review milestones.
Construction
We work with a consistent group of craftsmen and trade partners, with daily on-site presence throughout the build.
Management
We track cost against budget transparently and meet monthly with the architect and homeowner.
What we build in Brookside
Brookside is dominated by houses built between roughly 1910 and 1940, so most of the work is about bringing a well-built older house up to how people live now.
- Whole-house renovations. Reworking layout, systems, and finishes in a Tudor, Colonial Revival, or Craftsman while keeping the street elevation the block depends on.
- Additions. Expansions designed against the platted building line as well as the zoning setback, since the platted line governs where it is more restrictive.
- Interior renovations. Kitchens, baths, and living space, where plan review is not required for interior remodeling without structural changes.
- New construction and rebuilds. Infill and replacement houses planned around the over-50-year demolition review and the block-face standards in Section 88-110-07.
Faust Construction has completed new construction, additions, and renovation projects across Kansas City, Missouri. Brookside sits inside our regular service area alongside the Country Club Plaza area and the Ward Parkway corridor on the Missouri side, and Mission Hills, Prairie Village, Leawood, Overland Park, Fairway, and Westwood on the Kansas side.
Recent work
Browse new construction, additions, and full-home renovations from across the Kansas City metro, including projects in established neighborhoods that share this area’s scale and housing stock.
Questions about building here
Answers to what homeowners ask before starting a project in this area.
Is Brookside its own city?
No. Brookside is a group of neighborhoods inside Kansas City, Missouri, in Jackson County, bounded roughly by 55th Street, Gregory Boulevard, Ward Parkway, and Troost Avenue. It has no city government of its own. Building permits come from Kansas City, Missouri through CompassKC. It is a distinct place with its own homes associations and covenants, but not a separate municipality.
Do I need approval to tear down a house in Brookside?
Almost certainly yes. Under Ordinance 241070, adopted December 19, 2024, Kansas City reviews every proposed demolition of a building over 50 years old to determine whether it meets the criteria for historic listing. Brookside’s housing stock is largely from the 1910s through the 1940s, so effectively every house qualifies. If the Historic Preservation Office finds a building ineligible, approval is administrative after a seven-day notice period. If it finds the building eligible, the Historic Preservation Commission may impose a 45-day delay to explore alternatives.
What is a platted building line, and why does it matter in Brookside?
It is a setback line drawn on the original subdivision plat, and in Brookside it often controls. Kansas City’s code states that the required building setback is per the zoning table or the platted building line, whichever is greater. On J.C. Nichols-era plats the platted line frequently exceeds the zoning setback, so a setback calculated from the zoning table alone is not a reliable answer here.
Do Brookside homes association covenants override city rules?
They operate alongside them, and they can be stricter. Nichols-era restrictive covenants control setbacks and land use across much of Brookside and run with the land; amending them typically requires five years’ advance notice and unanimous notarized homeowner approval. These are private agreements administered by homes associations. Kansas City does not check them, cannot waive them, and will issue a permit for something a covenant forbids, so establishing which association covers an address belongs at the front of a project.
How does Kansas City’s infill rule affect a new house in Brookside?
Section 88-110-07, effective January 17, 2023, applies to any residential development on an infill lot of eight or fewer units, including modifications to an existing structure. The context area is every lot lying wholly or partly within 200 feet on the same block face. The front setback must match the setback of the existing buildings in that context area, height is set at 12 feet per story of the greater of the two nearest same-type buildings, lot coverage is capped at 50 percent, impervious cover at 75 percent, and lot area must fall between 75 and 150 percent of the context area average.
Does Faust Construction build in Brookside, Kansas City?
Yes. Faust Construction has completed new construction, additions, and full-home renovations on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro, and Brookside sits inside its regular service area alongside the Country Club Plaza area, the Ward Parkway corridor, and the Johnson County cities across the state line. Brian Faust founded the company more than 25 years ago.
Ready to build your dream home?
Every project starts with a conversation