Downtown Living
Delays Grow City Harvest Apartment Tower Cost to $95.6M
By Kevin Collison A 13-story apartment project planned next to the City Market has become significantly more expensive because of inflation after several months of delays caused in part by a hassle with the FAA over its proposed height. The new cost estimate for what’s called City Harvest is $95.6 million, 27.5 percent more than…
LuxLiving Scraps Riverfront Incentive Request, More Tax Revs, No Affordable Housing
By Kevin Collison LuxLiving has dropped its request for tax incentives to help build a proposed riverfront apartment project, a move that could yield about $18 million in fresh tax revenues, but set back efforts to providing affordable housing in the booming area. Port KC President and CEO Jon Stephens said the St. Louis-based developer…
Crossroads Office and Retail Development Includes ‘Leafy Oasis’
By Kevin Collison Work could begin this year on philanthropist and developer Shirley Helzberg’s plan to renovate two, historic Film Row buildings into office space and create a “leafy oasis” on what’s now a parking lot at 18th and Baltimore. Her latest Crossroads redevelopment, which ultimately includes building two, multi-family luxury buildings on West 17th…
Port KC Takes New Role Steering $160M South Loop Link Park Plan
By Kevin Collison Planning for the proposed South Loop Link, an ambitious proposal to deck four blocks of the disruptive downtown freeway with a park, is taking a big step forward with Port KC assuming a lead role in implementing the project. The public agency has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) to hire a…
Liberty Street Green Space Completes First Year in West Bottoms
(Editor’s note: This article originally appeared Dec. 29, 2021) By Kevin Collison One of greater downtown’s newer “parks” recently celebrated a quiet first anniversary, except for the rumbling trucks overhead. It’s called the Liberty Street Green Space and it replaces a grubby, former no-man’s land beneath the I-670 overpass in the West Bottoms with decorative…
Imagine KC Strategic Plan Seeks More ‘Equitable Downtown’
(Editor’s note: This article was originally published Jan. 26) By Kevin Collison A strategic plan that encompasses neighborhoods more than a mile from the skyscrapers of its central business district and envisions downtown as an economic catalyst for that larger area was rolled out Tuesday by the Downtown Council. The new Imagine Downtown KC 2030…
Kaw Makeover Including New Park, Bike Trails, Opening in October
(Editor’s note: This article was originally published Oct. 29, 2021) By Kevin Collison After decades of being a scraggly backwater, the Kaw River in the West Bottoms will be transformed with a new park and bicycle trail a year from now following action by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County. The UG commissioners approved an…
River Market Apartment Project May Begin in Early 2023 After ‘Good’ FAA Meeting
By Kevin Collison A planned 13-story apartment project in the River Market may begin construction early next year after its developer and city officials had what they described as a good meeting with federal aviation officials this week. At the meeting, Federal Aviation Administration officials agreed to ease height restrictions that had inhibited development in…
Affordable Housing Developer Proposes Project Near 27th and Troost
By Kevin Collison The Vecino Group, a Springfield-based affordable housing firm, has filed plans with the city to build a 57-unit apartment project at 2732 Forest, an area in the Troost corridor experiencing a market-rate apartment boom. The proposed four-story development had been scheduled to be reviewed by the City Plan Commission this week, but…
Renderings Released of Freight House Village Plan, Spring Start Anticipated
By Kevin Collison Lux Living has released preliminary renderings of its proposed Freight House Village residential and retail development at 20th and Walnut and hopes for a spring start on the 250-unit project. Victor Alston of St. Louis-based Lux Living said he’s been holding neighborhood meetings in recent weeks and incorporated some of the suggestions…