Housing
Flatland covers stories about affordable housing, evictions and tenant rights in the Kansas City metro and surrounding area.
Almost Full Commerce Tower Holds Grand Opening; Added Bonus, Dowdy CVS Pharmacy Next Door Getting New Look
By Kevin Collison The $139 million redevelopment of the historic Commerce Tower, described as a ‘vertical neighborhood,’ held its grand opening this week and 95 percent of its 355 apartments are expected to be leased by the end of November. “I knew it was going to do well, but the biggest thing is we’ve had…
Denver Postcard: Cost of Millennial Utopia, Downtown Apartments Cost Over 50 Percent Above KC
By Kevin Collison During a recent visit to old friends in Denver, I got a kick out of their 20-something son’s T-shirt. On it was an image of the retro-wooden, highway sign you see crossing the border: “Welcome to Colorful Colorado.” Beneath it read “No Vacancy.” It was telling of the huge growth boom going…
As Kansas City Booms And Sprawls, Trying Not To Forget Those In Between
This summer, NPR reporters are returning to their hometowns to see how they’ve changed. Sarah McCammon grew up in Kansas City – on the Missouri side of the state line. Like a lot of places, Kansas City is experiencing a couple of major trends – suburban sprawl and, more recently, a downtown revitalization. My two…
Historic Pickwick Plaza Gets Its Landmark Clock Back Just in Time for Grand Opening
By Kevin Collison The historic Pickwick Plaza in downtown Kansas City is back on the clock–literally–after a $65 million redevelopment project. On Wednesday, workers were reinstalling the eight-foot diameter clock mounted seven stories above McGee Street, one of the final touches before the grand opening Friday of the 260-unit apartment development. “That clock is symbolic…
Kansas Teens Can Face Bumpy Road As They ‘Age Out’ Of Foster Care System
Aubri Thompson has already had her share of challenges by age 21: She left the foster care system without a designated caregiver, lived without a steady home for more than a year and became a single parent before finishing college. Thompson lived in the Kansas foster care system from age 14, when she was reported…
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…
Welfare Spending Drops As Fewer Kansans Receive Cash Assistance
Kansas is on track to spend less than a third of what it did six years ago on cash assistance and to serve a third as many low-income people, according to a state budget office memo. Those numbers have been falling steadily since Gov. Sam Brownback took office in 2011, when Kansas began incorporating work…
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…