Many Midwest central business districts today are lacking in multi-family units. This isn’t surprising: Demand for apartments is high. And buyers of all ages today want to live in the heart of cities, close to restaurants, shops and entertainment.
Kansas City is an example. But more than 250 new apartment units might soon be coming to the city’s CBD to provide a boost to the city’s multi-family stock.
Kansas City Sustainable Development Partners has offered $7.1 million to purchase The Commerce Tower — a 30-story office tower at 911 Main St. in the heart of Kansas City — and the 249-space parking garage connected to it. The development company hopes to spend $71 million to convert much of the building to multi-family units, 265 loft, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.
The remaining 160,000 square feet of the building would remain as office space.
Plans are still in the early stages, but Kansas City Sustainable Development Partners’ goal is to close on the office tower and garage next month and complete construction sometime in the spring of 2015.
The Commerce Tower is an important one in Kansas City’s history. It opened in 1965 and was then considered the first modern skyscraper to grace the city’s downtown skyline. It initially served as the headquarters for Commerce Bank, which has since moved into a building at 1000 Walnut St.
