Downtown Living
Nature’s Own Opens In River Market; Owners Want to be Full-Service Grocer for Growing Downtown Neighborhood
By Kevin Collison It didn’t take long for Jeff Henkle to know he found the right spot to reincarnate Nature’s Own. Residents in the River Market were so eager to shop at his new full-service grocery store at 310 E. Fifth St. he opened several days earlier than anticipated on June 18. “So many people…
New Spokes Peddles Beers, Bikes and Bites in Downtown Kansas City
By Kevin Collison Downtown Kansas City is on a roll, and one of its latest new businesses is spinning a blend of bicycles, beers and good food, a combination that’s proved popular in other cities including Denver and Minneapolis. The new Spokes opened five weeks ago at 1200 Washington St., one of the first retailers…
Urban Core Group Offers Inside Look at New Pickwick Plaza Apartment Project in Downtown KC
The Urban Core Group is holding its monthly get together June 28 at East9, aka the historic Pickwick Plaza apartment project. The new development transformed what was once a hotel, bus station and office complex into apartments geared toward millennials. Maybe you can take a spin on the huge turntable that once spunned buses around?
Downtown Kansas City Apartment Boom Fueled by Return to Walkable Living
By Kevin Collison Apartment construction in metropolitan Kansas City is hitting levels not seen since before the Great Recession with more than 5,000 units expected to be completed by the end of this year. Many of those projects are going up in downtown Kansas City and similar places such as old Overland Park where developers…
Plans to Redevelop Washington Square Park in Downtown Kansas City Remain Work in Progress
By Kevin Collison Three years after being hired by Union Station Kansas City to explore options for redeveloping property it owns on the north side of Washington Square Park, VanTrust Real Estate remains undecided about the best plan moving forward. “We’ve looked at everything from a single use to a mixed-use of office, residential and…
Flashcube Building Receives Nod for Tax Incentives, $50M Downtown Kansas City Apartment Project
By Kevin Collison The $50 million redevelopment plan for the reflective glass-clad building known as the Flashcube received critical tax incentives to move forward today, the latest project on the downtown Kansas City streetcar line. The nine-story building at 720 Main St. is being redeveloped by Worcester Investments into 184 apartments and 35,800 square-feet of…
Federal Agency Concerns Over Homeless Situation at Ilus Davis Park has KC Downtown Council Scrambling
By Kevin Collison Ilus W. Davis Park, the centerpiece of the downtown Kansas City Civic District, has become a regular sleepover spot for homeless people, irritating a prominent next door neighbor, the Federal Aviation Administration. The Downtown Council has asked the Kansas City Parks Board to impose a night-time curfew in the two-block park in…
Downtown Spring Housing Tour This Saturday
People interested in living downtown Kansas City will have an opportunity to visit 11 residential developments this Saturday, June 3, in an open house event sponsored by the Downtown Neighborhood Association. The DNA Spring Urban Living Tour runs from 1- to 4 p.m. Saturday and features both new and historic renovation projects. Most of the…
KC Preservationists Pursue Campaign to Document Westport Architecture as Development Pressure Mounts
By Kevin Collison New projects in the works for historic Westport are prompting a grassroots effort to survey the district’s buildings to provide a solid planning base for future development decisions. Plans for two apartment projects and a hotel are being reviewed at City Hall for a district that’s been popular destination since before Kansas…
Design for New Downtown YMCA Would Keep Lyric Facade
By Kevin Collison Backers of a planned Downtown YMCA that would incorporate the facade of the historic Lyric Theater as part of the $30 million project hope to wrap up fundraising this summer. David Byrd, CEO of the YMCA, told the Downtown Council board Thursday that $21 million has been raised and anticipated the remaining…