History and Conversion into Interstate Flats – 12 E. Armour 

“It will be a unique, exciting place to live,” Peter Cassel, director of Mac Properties, said. “That’s the space where people talked about Twinkies, Ho Ho’s, and Wonder Bread.”

The History

This building, which once housed Hostess Brands, distributor of the world-famous Twinkie, has a future just as exciting as its past.

The story begins in the mid-1900’s with a young entrepreneur who had a passion for baking. Interstate Bakeries, a Kansas City-based company, was founded in the year 1930 by Raph Leroy Nafziger. Nafziger emerged from a family of bakers, with his first bakery having been located in a church basement on 6^th and Prospect Avenue.

In 1937, Interstate merged with the Schulze Baking Company, Inc., a well-established Kansas City baker. From this point forward, the company continued to grow and expand. Deciding to stay in Kansas City, the company established its headquarters at 12. E. Armour Blvd. Constructed in two phases, 1952(Andrews & Hutchins) and 1961(L.P. Andrews & Associates), the two-story building was constructed in a U-shape with a courtyard that opens west.The Interstate Bakeries Corporation has operated more than 60 bakeries across the country and distributed its products under multiple brand names, such as Sunbeam, Dolly Madison, Wonder, and Hostess. On July 15, 1969, the company expanded its name from Interstate to Interstate Brands Corporation in order to reflect the variety of performances, including canning. Due to the reconfiguring of operations within the company I’m 1974, Interstate stationed it’s headquarters in Hartsdale, New York.

The company decided to move Interstate headquarters back to Kansas City in 1982.

Hostess

At the start of the 1990’s, Interstate was able to prove itself within the industry by buying out its largest competitor. It remained a leading force within the industry until the early 2000’s. In 2009, the name of the company was changed to Hostess Brands in order to reflect the popularity of the Hostess treats. Within the same year, company headquarters moved to Irving, Texas.

Unfortunately, three years later in January 2012, Hostess Brands sought bankruptcy protection yet again. This led to the ceasing of all operations by the Kansas City headquarters. Mac Properties acquired the property two years later, in August 2014. The renovation and remodeling process began in September of 2015.

The Purchase Photos

The Renovation – Hostess to Interstate Flats

The Hostess building is two stories tall and covers 33,000 square feet. The building is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Because the building does have such an interesting historic background, there are parts of the interior structure that will remain unchanged. For example, Missouri preservation officials were particularly interested in preserving Interstate Bakeries’ former boardroom as part of the historic rehabilitation project. Therefore, the unique walnut wood-paneled boardroom will be incorporated as a living room and kitchen space in one of the building’s apartment units.

“It will be a unique, exciting place to live,” Peter Cassel, director of Mac Properties, said. “That’s the space where people talked about Twinkies, Ho Ho’s, and Wonder Bread.”

The name given to the renovated apartments is Interstate Flats, due to the building’s history centered around Interstate Bakeries Corporation. The outcome of the renovation process is going to be 39 new apartments, which are scheduled for completion by November 2016.

Walking through the building before the renovation, you would have thought you were in an episode of “Mad Men”. There were receptionist areas, tight hallways, frosted glass office rooms, thick wood doors, and multiple board rooms.

Designed by El Dorado and constructed by Centric Projects, this building was stripped on the inside while keeping the historic integrity where necessary. Having an office building that was prominent back in the mid-1900’s allowed for a lot of creative design elements that you won’t see in many other “cookie-cutter” apartments. Instead of throwing out the large old doors that led to each office, we re-purposed them to be the bedroom doors. They were made of solid wood, so the quality was high and cost-effective. Also, those frosted glass panels that we mentioned before are now integrated into each unit as a divider wall. Residents will see some light scratches and markings from the living history of the building.

The building had enough parking spots to accommodate each unit, so the design team made the decision to turn the interior of the “U” into a common space for Interstate Flats and the new property being built right next door, 3435 Main St. This will have exterior patio furniture, green space, grilling stations, interior business center, & an interior lounge.

The Final Apartment

We are so excited to see the final product and the building (as of 10/20/2016) is close to being finished. We will have first move-ins on the 1st of November and are positive this building will fill up. Please visit our floor plans and pricing blog for more images and a complete list of floor plans options. You can also visit the website to view availability.