East Side / West Bottoms
Anchoring Kansas City's urban core on the east and west, respectively, are the 18th and Vine District and the West Bottoms, two distinctive areas in the midst of revitalization and reinvention.
The historic 18th and Vine area, a Mecca for jazz legends in the 1920s and 1930s with its world-renowned nightclubs, is being redeveloped as a cultural center. With the Jazz and Negro Leagues Baseball museums serving as hubs, the Jazz District Redevelopment Corp. is working to fill renovated space up and down both sides of the street with commercial and retail tenants.
Up first is 30,000 square feet along the first floor of the Jazz Street Apartments at 1500 and 1516 East 18th Street, which opened 73 units late last year. A few tenants have already signed on, most notably a new health food store called Strangefrut Restorative & Smoothie Bar, a jazz club and a coffee shop. They will join the Peach Tree Restaurant, which opened in December. In all, about 60 percent of the commercial space in the building has been leased.
The success of the Jazz District Apartments' $15 million first phase has sparked Phase Two, which will include 79 apartment units in two newly constructed buildings. A $14 million venture, Phase Two will include 52 units at 19th and Paseo and 27 units at 1610 19th Street. The project is slated to begin in summer 2003. McCormack Baron and Associates of St. Louis is the developer.
Across downtown, developers in the West Bottoms are working to move the area beyond its industrial heritage to a new age of residential and cultural diversity. Warehouses are being renovated and converted into loft apartments and art galleries, such as the Hobbs Building at 1427 West 9th Street, a cooperative that houses the studios of several artists.
Although the West Bottoms is changing, there is still an industry contingent in the area. A case in point is the $14 million, 106,000-square-foot expansion by Faultless Starch Bon Ami Co., the venerable maker of starch and cleaning supplies. The project includes the construction of a new 106,000-square-foot warehouse and headquarters at 1100 West 8th Street and the renovation of its nearby production facility. Construction began in September, 2002 and is expected to wrap up in summer, 2003. Other prominent developments at 18th and Vine and the West Bottoms include:
Centennial Villa Senior Apartments--Another local development led by McCormack Baron. Located at 18th and Woodland, the $4.5 million project included the construction of a three-story, 46-unit apartment complex. Completed earlier this year, the project was co-sponsored by the Black Economic Union and Centennial Methodist Church.
Butler Manufacturing--The company's new $25 million headquarters, located at 1540 Genessee, was completed in December, 2001. The two-story, 150,000-square-foot facility employs about 500. As part of the project, the city built a 1,400-space garage on land donated by Butler and National Farms. J.E. Dunn was the general contractor for the project.