$2.5 billion in development projects are set to break ground in the coming months in Kansas City.
Kansas City Manager Brian Platt says seeing this amount of development all at once in the city is "unprecedented."
"We've had similar types of development in the past, like Power and Light — a big moment to transform and rebrand downtown Kansas City — but this is the next level of that, and it's bigger and better than we've ever seen before," Platt told KCUR's Up To Date.
Among the projects is a new neighborhood of apartments and businesses that will be created next to the Kansas City Current’s stadium on the Berkley Riverfront, a project that will cost $800 million alone. That project is a partnership between development agency Port KC and the Current.
“It’s stores, it's restaurants, it's amenities that complement what's going on there," Platt said. "It will be a place where people can live and not necessarily have to leave. They'll get everything you need in that one spot.”
Crews have already started constructing the KC Streetcar extension to the riverfront.
In the Historic Northeast, a new development will transform an old warehouse into apartments, day care, retail and greenspace. The Historic Northeast Lofts will include 389 apartments, with 80% marked as affordable.
Platt says he supports the project, which received city tax incentives.
“This is exactly the type of project that keeps the residents in their homes, adds more protections for affordability for people.”
