The former KONE Tower building – an architectural landmark in downtown Moline – will soon get new life as it will be the testing grounds for a new generation of elevators.
The City of Moline is collaborating with Silicon Valley tech startup Hyprlift, Inc. and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to convert the historic KONE Building at 1 Kone Court into a hub for vertical mobility innovation.
The Moline City Council on Tuesday night, Jan. 20, approved leasing the former KONE Tower for testing new self-propelled elevator cabs. According to the lease, Hyperlift wants to improve the tower by repairing up to three elevator shafts, and creating a control room, research and development facility, warehouse, and support facility as part of the elevator testing project.
The council approved the lease agreement with a monthly payment of $2,500 for up to a 10-year period, according to city council documents. The lease will run in two, back-to-back five-year terms.
If Hyperlift, Inc. makes an investment of at least $150,000 into improving the property, Moline will cover the first five years of the lease.
“The lease with Hyprlift will begin in March. The initial scope of work will focus on the interior of the tower, primarily mounting guide rails and preparing the tower to receive a Hyprlift prototype elevator cab. A portion of the existing facility at the base of the tower will be preserved to support the operation of the tower as an elevator technology and testing facility. That scope is schedule to commence in second quarter of this year,” Christopher Parr, Moline’s chief economic development director officer, told the QCBJ on Wednesday.
“It’s a rare opportunity to bridge history, technology, and economic development in a way that benefits our entire community,” said Mr. Parr in a city news release. “The elevator of the future will rise – literally – within one of the nation’s most iconic elevator test towers.”
Federal funding support
Hyprlift is developing revolutionary, self-propelled, cable-free elevators for skyscrapers, allowing multiple autonomous cabs in a single shaft using magnetic propulsion, thus reducing building core size, freeing up space, and increasing transport efficiency for future tall buildings, according to information from the company.
“Hyprlift self-propelled cabs can travel non-stop to virtually any height, eliminating the need for passengers to stop and transfer from one elevator to another to reach their destinations. No hoist ropes also means no more elevator shutdowns or slowdowns,” the company stated.
In exchange for tower access, the City of Moline became Hyprlift’s commercial partner in the successful receipt of a National Science Foundation Technology Enhancement for Commercial Partnerships (TECP) award. NSF’s support is helping accelerate Hyprlift’s path to commercialization and bringing federal innovation investment directly to Moline’s riverfront.
“The City of Moline approached this opportunity with a level of agility and entrepreneurial spirit that’s truly exceptional,” James Hutchinson, founder and CEO of Hyprelift, said in the city news release. “Their leadership enabled us to move quickly, and we’re excited not only about what we’ll accomplish together at the test tower, but about the long-term partnership we’re building with the city.”
Moline City Administrator Bob Vitas added: “This collaboration preserves an important piece of our past while positioning Moline where the elevator industry’s next chapter of technological advancement will be written.”
Preserving history
The former KONE building served as a testing tower for Montgomery Elevator for about 30 years. The building finished construction in 1967, with KONE buying it in 1994.
The city then bought the riverfront property in 2022, and included it in the River Front + Centre Plan to redevelop the area. (That plan focuses on creating a new riverfront area that attracts visitors and offers many amenities to the area bordered by the Mississippi River on the north, Seventh Avenue on the south, 23th Street on the east and 18th Street on the west. A secondary area expands the area east to Moline’s 25th Street.)
While the redevelopment plan calls for removing many surrounding buildings, the city wanted to “preserve the historic test tower as a key architectural landmark and ensure the tower will remain part of Moline’s skyline for years to come,” Moline Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati said in the release.
