Development Humming at 18th & Vine with New Apartments, Other Projects

By Kevin Collison

The 18th and Vine Jazz District has received a double dose of good news recently with the opening of the $25 million One Nine Vine apartment project and the award of tax credits critical to another project that would revitalize a strategic block.

The 80-unit One Nine Vine is located at the southeast corner of 19th and Vine. The six-story building is part of a wave of new and planned development in an area considered the historic commercial hub of the local Black community.

Part of that development upsurge includes the Jazz District III project that is planned for the south side of 18th Street between The Paseo and Vine. It will include 48 more mixed-income apartments and 10,000 square feet of ground level retail space.

The Jazz District III received word this week from the Missouri Housing Development Commission that its receiving $1.24 million in federal tax credits and $868,000 in state tax credits. The developer is McCormack Baron Salazar.

The project also received $4 million from the Central City Economic Development (CCED) Sales Tax District, a tax approved by city voters to assist projects on the East Side.

The first phase of the Jazz District II project is planned for the south side of 18th Street between The Paseo and Vine. (Site plan from developer)

“Thus far the project has received a number of subsidies that get the project closer to completion,” said Kelvin Simmons, a participant in the development. “We will anticipate a groundbreaking in 2024.”

The Jazz District III development incudes the renovation of the historic House of Hits building at 1511-13 E. 18th St., and two new commercial and residential buildings that would be built on each side of it.

“We already have significant and strong interest for the retail spaces,” Simmons said. “We hope there will be strong interest with musicians, artists and others for our housing component.”

A brochure for the Jazz District III project stated it’s intended to create a better, initial impression of the 18th and Vine District.

“This new building will create a strong gateway into the district from the west, eliminating the negative first impression currently caused by vacancy and blight on the primary corner,” it stated.

Units on the west side of One Nine Vine have unobstructed downtown skyline views.

The One Nine Vine apartment project includes 30 one-bedroom and 50 two-bedroom units. The project received a 25-year property tax abatement from the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority as part of its financing.

The project also received $3.9 million from the CCED program.

Monthly rents for a one-bedroom at One Nine Vine will be $850, with seven reserved as affordable at $726 per month, according to the PIEA application. Rents for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit would go for $1,100 with seven set aside as affordable at $835.

Each apartment includes a balcony and those on the west side of the building have impressive views of the downtown skyline. The project also includes 85 parking spaces, with 30 of them being in an underground garage.

The derelict House of Hits building would be renovated and incorporated into the $21 million Jazz III redevelopment.

One Nine Vine also includes 17,000 square-feet of retail space along Vine Street, including a 3,500 square-foot potential restaurant site.

The project is expected to the first phase of a redevelopment plan totaling $68 million.

The second phase calls for another 200-unit apartment building with a 30,000 square-foot supermarket; and a mixed-use building with 60 apartments, office and retail in its third phase.

One Nine Vine and Jazz District III are part of a series of major developments either underway or proposed in the 18th and Vine District including:

–The proposed $25 million Negro Leagues Museum expansion at 18th and The Paseo.

–The 2000 Vine renovation project, which has restored two historic buildings at 20th and Vine. It’s tenants include Vine Street Brewing, the first Black-owned microbrewery in the metro.

–The $20 million renovation of the historic Attucks School at 1815 Woodland into the Zhou B. Art Center now under construction and nearing completion.

–The proposed $10- $15 million renovation of the Wendell Phillips school at 24th and Vine into a health campus and construction of affordable homes across the street.

–The planned reconstruction by the city of 18th Street between The Paseo and Woodland as a pedestrian-friendly corridor at an estimated cost of more than $6.5 million.

–A proposed $23 million residential renovation project on Vine between 18th and 19th streets that also would incorporate historic facades.

–The proposed $3 million renovation of the historic Boone Theater at 1710 E. 18th into a media and entertainment center.