Big Third and Grand Apartment Project On Track for Late Winter Start

By Kevin Collison

Work is expected to begin by late winter on a 246-unit apartment project located on a public parking lot at Third and Grand, a site that’s been targeted by the KCATA for development since 2015.

Bill Crandall of CBC Real Estate Group, a partner in the $60 million venture, described the project as “best multi-modal site” in the city.

“This project has been a long time coming and it will an exciting, Class A development for the River Market,” he said.

CBC and EPC Real Estate Group in an entity called 3G Development have been pursuing the apartment project for the 193-space parking lot across from the City Market and controlled by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority since 2020.

The project calls for five levels of housing above a 232-stall garage. The development also includes 7,500 square-feet of retail space facing Grand Boulevard and provides a 25-foot corridor for a planned bicycle and pedestrian path.

A new station is planned at Third and Grand next to a proposed apartment project. (Rendering from KC Streetcar Authority)

As part of the development, the developers also agreed to accommodate an internal bus stop, a transfer rest station for RideKC drivers and several parking spaces for the KCATA.

The Transportation Authority originally wanted to develop the property as a 200,000 square-foot office project. It reached an agreement with Northpoint Development in 2015, but the plan failed to progress.

The planned apartment project which was first proposed in 2019 also faced hurdles. Despite strong backing at City Hall, its first request for tax incentives was turned down by the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority in April 2020.

Two months later, the PIEA board approved the incentives after the developer agreed to set aside 40 percent of the hard construction work to contractors paying prevailing wages, a scale established by unions.

The new apartment development will be located on this 193-space parking lot controlled by the KCATA across from the City Market.

The incentive agency approved a  25-year property tax reduction, 15 years at 75 percent and 10 years at 37.5 percent. A sales tax exemption on construction materials also was part of the package.

The KCATA and the city own the parking lot where the project is planned and will split the $2.23 million sales price.

At the time it was improved for incentives, the projected monthly rents at Third and Grand were $1,138 for a 533 square-foot studio apartment; $1,462 for a 748 square-foot one-bedroom, and $2,036 for a 1,195 square-foot two-bedroom.

The Third and Grand project is the third large apartment plan in the works for the River Market.

The 105-unit Oaks River Market project at 110 E. Third has obtained its necessary city approvals, and a 13-story, 300-unit project called City Harvest has been approved for a public parking lot west of the City Market.