Developers now have another large chunk of land available on which to build in Kansas City, nearly 5.77 acres in the city’s downtown Crossroads Arts District.
Block Real Estate Services is marketing two parcels of land in this district, one piece owned by Kissel Properties and a second piece by Crown Center Redevelopment. The pieces of land join at Locus Street, and, together, provide nearly two city blocks of available space.
Michael Block, principal with Block Real Estate Services, says that the space is ideal for developers interested in creating a ground-up mixed-use project.
“When you look at development sites in the center of Kansas City, there isn’t a site of this magnitude that has been available,” Block said. “This site is available, and it requires just minimal infrastructure work. It is here and ready to go.”
For years, the site had been home to a parking lot and warehouse. Those uses are now gone, and the land is ripe for development, Block said.
“Almost every other building in the Crossroads area has been redeveloped already,” Block said. “All of those buildings that used to be big industrial buildings have been redeveloped, many of them into loft spaces. You have a lot of hotels, restaurants and retail in this area. You have the streetcar line running here. There is a demand for more residential and mixed-use, and this is the site to do it on.”
Why did this land suddenly become available? The most immediate reason are the expansion plans of Children’s Mercy Hospital. The Kansas City hospital has long owned the parking lot that had sat on the site. But the hospital is now expanding, and as part of these plans is building a new parking garage.
This means that Children’s Mercy no longer needs the nearly two-and-a-half acres of surface parking on the east side of the parcel.
At the same time, the market is demanding more development in Kansas City’s Crossroads area, Block said.
“This area is the epicenter of the arts community in Kansas City,” Block said. “Because of that, you get a lot of businesses that work within the arts, are affiliated with the arts or just sort of want to associate with the hip arts community. A lot of office users like the atmosphere here. The people who are working in Crossroads and the people who live there have been demanding more entertainment, food and service retail. This site is an opportunity for developers who want to provide that type of mixed-use development.”
Block said that the site is receiving plenty of attention from developers, both local and national.
“We are getting inquiries from developers who want to break into the Kansas City market and those who already have completed projects here,” Block said. “A lot of developers are taking a look at this site.”
