AFFORDABLE REAL ESTATE HELPS KEY ACTIVITY NEAR A GROWING MEDICAL-TRAINING AREA.

 

The district includes seven neighborhoods and commercial areas, several of which have become popular because the affordable real estate promotes economic loft and studio rental. Another anchor is the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.

Though sitting in a quiet corner offset from the Downtown core, the university continues to grow as both a major urban development and a significant regional medical training institution. It completed major projects as recently as 2007, when it opened a new, 1,500-seat auditorium, and is currently nearing completion of a $14-million campaign for a new campus library and student activity center.

The university continues to expand its impact on health care, which began in 1916, including continued collaboration with other area institutions.

The Northeast also boasts an amazing cultural mix. The area has become a hub for immigrants, with pedestrians in traditional African dress or other signs, and outstanding ethnic restaurants.

Though a solid housing stock is part of the story, other elements are not mere accident. Spearheaded by one of the area’s active neighborhood associations, the Scarritt Renaissance Urban Renewal Plan provides a 10-year property tax abatement for homeowners who complete up to $5,000 in repairs to their houses and for commercial property owners who make up to $10,000 in improvements. In one effort, more than 200 properties were rezoned to reduce conversion of single-family residences into duplexes and multi-family apartments.

Closer to the Downtown core is a several-block corridor of industrial and commercial structures. This area includes some blighted property that will be ripe for redevelopment when East Village becomes a reality just across I-35. Other properties, like the A. Zahner metal fabrication company property, are among the more fortunate. This year, Zahner was approved for $365,798 in tax credits over a five-year period for the creation of 45 jobs and new investment of $5,900,000.