Developer Pursuing 180-Unit Apartment Project in East Crossroads

By Kevin Collison

The city is in preliminary negotiations with a developer who wants to build a 180-unit apartment project on public property in the East Crossroads that would include 36 affordable apartments.

Grayson Capital is pursuing the project at 1531 Holmes. The site is currently occupied by a city-owned building. The firm was selected following a request for proposals issued by the city last spring.

Grayson is led by Michael Collins, a developer with significant public and private experience. He was an aide to former Sen. Kit Bond, CEO of the KC Port Authority for a stint and most recently worked for J.E. Dunn.

The City Council is considering an ordinance to allow City Manager Brian Platt to negotiate with Grayson for a potential development on the site.

“This is more of a negotiation to see if we can move forward,” Collins said. “There’s a lot to iron out with the city.”

Michael Collins

The tentative proposal includes 180 apartments, with 36 reserved for people earning up to 50 percent of the area median income, above 6,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space, according to a city document.

“The focus is on having a significant affordable housing component, particularly because this is city-owned property,” Collins said.

If successful, the potential development would be the first to offer affordable housing opportunities in the East Crossroads, a growing downtown neighborhood featuring microbreweries, restaurants and shops.

The area’s first new residential project, Artistry KC, a 341-unit market-rate apartment development, opened in late 2020 at 19th and Locust.

It was recently purchased by Avanti Residential, a Denver investor, and has been renamed Arte KC. CBRE represented the seller.

Collins said his team has not decided yet whether it would retain the current city building on the lot as part of the project, or demolish it.

Grayson Capital is focused on building multi-family developments. Collins said he left J.E. Dunn in April to launch the venture.

“We have some great projects moving forward including one in Tulsa in the historic Black Wall Street District,” he said. “Our focus is attainable multi-family.”