Sih, managing partner of tech incubator Think Big Partners, hopes the renovation of the 1902 Globe building will help a blossoming community of developers and other tech types in the area collide -- in good ways -- to inspire the creation of new mobile apps, other software and hardware.

Behind that more immediate goal is a wish to make the downtown area more livable and attractive to young tech types, artists and businesses.

The old Globe building conveniently fronts Main Street, along which a two-mile, $102 million streetcar project is underway, with completion set for mid-2015. From the north, streetcars will pass through downtown skyscrapers and then through both the hip Crossroads Arts District and the restaurants and nightlife in the Power and Light District, before reaching the 100-year-old Union Station to the south.

Tech providers have lined up, too. In 2012, Google kicked off its first-ever Google Fiber gigabit fiber initiative, first on the Kansas and then the Missouri sides of Kansas City. That innovation sparked a flurry of unprecedented tech activity that feeds off the region's long history in medical technology and wireless networking, headed by area companies such as Cerner and Sprint.

In May, Cisco said it will bring wireless smart-city technology to the downtown, too, in an area that coincides with part of the streetcar project. These services will include mobile apps for citizen access, digital interactive kiosks, smart streetlights and video surveillance.

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