Downtown Living
City Survey Reveals Rising Worries About Affordable Housing
By Kevin Collison The number of Kansas City residents concerned about the availability of affordable housing rose slightly last year, according to new city data, with the greater downtown area reporting the greatest increase. The analysis prepared by KCStat revealed that citywide, 55 percent of the respondents to the latest Resident Survey conducted last spring…
ARTerra Opens, Crossroads First New Apartment Tower
By Kevin Collison The new year in downtown Kansas City kicks off with the opening today of downtown’s newest apartment tower, the 12-story ARTerra project at 2100 Wyandotte. At its groundbreaking in August 2017, the developers of the 126-unit luxury project predicted it would set a new bar for downtown rents and it appears to…
Big Redevelopment Plan By Barney Allis Plaza Gets Bigger
By Kevin Collison A major redevelopment project that will transform a block bordering Barney Allis Plaza has bumped up its office component by 43 percent, responding to a downtown market that developers believe is ripe for new space. The project planned by Platform Ventures originally called for 70,000 square feet of office, but now has…
Developer Plans 248-Unit Apartment Project on Troost Near Hospital Hill
By Kevin Collison Another big apartment project is in the works for Troost Avenue near Hospital Hill, a 248-unit development at the southeast corner of 25th Street that would take up an entire city block. The $40 million development planned by GSSW Real Estate Investments of Dallas was endorsed by the City Plan Commission Tuesday….
Downtown Dazzle Urban Homes Tour This Saturday
By Kevin Collison The Downtown Dazzle Urban Homes Tour returns Saturday and this year current and prospective downtown residents should find a robust, competitive market. “Right now, things are running well, but you can see there are a lot of incentives,” said Christina Boveri of Boveri Realty Group. “We have a lot of great product…
One of Downtown’s Last Big, Empty Historic Buildings Slated for Apartments
By Kevin Collison One of downtown’s last prominent, dormant historic buildings, the 23-story Mark Twain Tower, is slated to be redeveloped as a 202-unit apartment project following approval of incentives Wednesday. The soaring structure at the northwest corner of 11th and Baltimore, which opened in 1923 as the Kansas City Athletic Club, is expected to…
New Downtown Y Called Boost to Growing, Diverse Community
By Kevin Collison For perhaps the first time ever, downtown will be home to a high school swim team, one of many community-building opportunities cited last week at the kickoff event for the new YMCA at the Lyric Theater. The beginning of a civic endeavor that began in 2011 when YMCA executive David Byrd, fresh…
New YMCA Coming Downtown After 37-Year Absence, Work Starts Friday
By Kevin Collison A new downtown YMCA, a huge civic endeavor in the making for seven years, is scheduled to kickoff construction Friday in the former Lyric Theater building with completion expected in spring 2021. The $35 million Y will incorporate the front facade and lobby of the historic theater at 1029 Central and build…
The Grand Adds Sixties Modern Cool to Downtown Living
By Kevin Collison The Grand, one of downtown’s biggest historic preservation projects ever, opens this week following a $65 million renovation that’s transformed a 1962 office tower into a stylish “Sixties Modern” living environment. The 201 apartments in the former Traders National Bank Building at 1125 Grand are 20 percent pre-leased and interest has been…
Mulberry Lofts Opens in Historic Garment District Building
By Kevin Collison Mulberry Lofts, the latest downtown historic renovation project at 905 Broadway, has come to fruition with half of its 25 apartments already leased two weeks after the first residents began moving in. Developer Andrew Bolton, a New Yorker who relocated to Kansas City while pursuing the $8 million project, has blended the…