News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Small(er) Westside Historic Rehab Apartment Project Moves Forward
By Kevin Collison Two years after first being proposed, the developer of a former power substation building at 2645 Madison near the Boulevard Brewery has been approved for tax incentives to convert it into a six-unit apartment project. The Planned Industrial Expansion Authority approved a development contract last week that includes a 10-year, 100 percent…
Kansas City-Area Historic Sites Look to Halloween for Haunting Revenue
Nonprofits that own or maintain historic structures across Kansas City are hosting their own ghost tours and paranormal investigations.
Mayor Stays Close to City Hall with TIF Commission Nominees
In his first important round of appointments, Mayor Quinton Lucas has stayed close to City Hall in nominating members for the city’s most high-profile economic development agency, the Kansas City Tax Increment Financing Commission. Three Kansas City Council members and one former member are among the six appointments the mayor is making to serve on…
Diane Burnette Leaves a Resurgent Main Street for Washington
By Kevin Collison Diane Burnette has one big regret leaving Midtown KC Now, formerly MainCor, for a new job with the Urban Land Institute in Washington D.C. after leading the key Main Street organization 16 years. “The one thing that bums me out,” she said, “I worked hard to get to this point and I’m…
“American Graduate: Getting to Work” Sees Many Opportunities in Homebuilding
The “American Graduate: Getting to Work” series followed a group of students from the Kearney School District as they toured home construction sites.
A Year Later, No Sign of Hy-Vee Arena
By Kevin Collison A year after the Hy-Vee Arena amateur sports center opened in the West Bottoms following a $39 million redevelopment, it’s still invisible when it comes to downtown highway signage. Signs continue to refer to Kemper Arena, which essentially went dark with the opening of the Sprint Center in 2007, and that seriously…
NorthPoint Plans $60M Apartment Project by Berkley Riverfront Park
By Kevin Collison NorthPoint Development is planning a $60 million apartment development near Berkley Riverfront Park that could begin accepting what’s anticipated to be up to 500 residents as early as late summer 2021. The 348-unit project is proposed for an eight-acre site just east of the Bar K dog park, restaurant and bar, according…
Hey Kansas Taxpayers: Do You Want To Save Nearly A Million Bucks?
A Nov. 5 Kansas ballot question would eliminate a constitutionally mandated adjustment of federal census numbers, which is designed to ensure college students and military members in the state are counted in the location of their permanent residence.
New Playground Opens at West Terrace Park
By Kevin Collison Downtown boosters like to say it’s becoming a place where people can live, work and play, and last week a couple hundred kids from Crossroads Academy embraced that concept with joy at the opening of a new playground at West Terrace Park. While the 45-degree temps and wind made for a chilly…
Bringing Out the Dead: The Great Stockyard Fire of 1917
One of the biggest agricultural disasters in Kansas City history occurred in 1917, when a fire scorched the stockyard in the West Bottoms, leaving thousands of dead cattle and hogs charred in its wake.