Diving in | The developers of Market Station Apartments saw an opportunity to capitalize on Downtown's renewed attraction as a place to live, and responded with a project that brings a full range of amenities to the market, at competitive prices.
Property for sale, especially condominiums, remains stymied by the economy, although that helps the rental market. “If you look at the housing overall, the pendulum has swung back to rental,” noted Matt Meier, Development Project Manager for the Wisconsin-based Alexander Company, which is developing its second Downtown apartment project. “Right now a lot of people are a little hesitant to buy.”
Whether purchasing or renting, significant numbers are moving downtown. “We’ve placed 2,000 hous holds in just the last two years,” noted Christina Boveri of Boveri Realty Group. “That’s just our small office. Across the board, there’s a 98 percent rental rate from 18th and Vine to the River Market. That’s pretty amazing, considering that we haven’t built anything in the past two years with the economy the way it is.”
What comes on-line finds solid demand. At the Market Station Apartments, Manager Brandi Smith said the 323-unit Type A complex was more than 70 percent occupied after just 10 months. “I don’t really notice the slump here,” she said. “We’ve had months with 150 pieces of traffic, which is unheard of.”
With rental prices from $800 to $1,700, Market Station is home to many young professionals. The desire to live in a dynamic urban core—what might be called the Midwestern equivalent of television’s Sienfeld or Friends— is definitely a factor.
“There is a demand to live Downtown,” agreed Tommy Wilson, the Downtown Council’s urban planning manager. “The area’s (real estate) agents tell us they have to turn away people who are looking Downtown because they don’t have any place to put them.”
A Benefit for Employers
But housing choices aren’t of sole concern to prospective residents. Tens of thousands of people work Downtown, and a fair number of them would forgo the hassles of morning and afternoon commutes if the right housing choice were available closer to their workplaces.
“Having more housing options available is always a good thing, particularly for young people looking for an urban living experience,” said Jo Stueve, co-chief operating officer for Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics. “It would be an asset for our employee recruitment efforts if we were able to offer more housing options closer to the hospital.
Moving In
The Alexander Company, hailing from Madison, Wis., isn’t the only out-of-region firm looking to take advantage of the residential redevelopment market in Kansas City.
Adam Blake and his Atlas Properties, from Fort Worth, Texas, have been attracted to this area. Blake, who is proposing a 63-unit affordable residential and retail complex at 20th and Central, has a bit of an insider’s view on the potential here; he’s a Rockhurst High School graduate who started his business in Fort Worth but is doing deals in his hometown because he sees the possibilities.
Blake says the housing demand, coupled with historic buildings and other opportunities, make for a good market. “I really like the urban core, with mixed use, higher density,” he explained. “Kansas City has been pretty aggressive growing its urban core and they want to double the population. The opportunity is there.”
Others hope to expand even that. given that more than 17,000 people call Downtown home. The challenge, say those working on issues key to the area’s revival, is to generate the inventory needed to meet the demands of not only those residents, but roughly twice that number over the next decade. It’s vital, they say, that a wider range of residential choices come onto the market.
“The availability of financing is a factor,” Meier said. “It’s very difficult to have financing. If you look at how much is getting built now compared to what was being built in prior years, you’ll see the supply is coming down.”
Blake agreed, and said that even market rates don’t allow revenue for new construction. Affordable rates, as he hopes to construct, are still more challenging.
Meier’s firm, the Alexander Company, is making one of the largest additions to Downtown housing with the Courthouse Lofts, a 176-unit conversion of the former federal courthouse, set for completion in mid-2011. Earlier, the company converted the Professional Building at 11th and Grand into 132 apartments. Both illustrate the opportunities and challenges involved in working Downtown.
“All over the country, I’ve seen historic buildings abandoned,” Meier noted. “Once they’re beyond a point, the owners tend to walk away and the buildings deteriorate and become a nuisance.” Before rehabilitation, pieces of the Professional Building were falling on nearby sidewalks and demolition was being discussed.
State historic preservation credits and city programs help reverse that scenario. “There has to be a will locally to make it happen,” Meier recalled. “Otherwise, it’s like pushing a rock up a hill.”
The biggest growth for the future involves East Village, a large, nine-square-block development east of City Hall, where a 100-plus-unit apartment development has been proposed. Other hotspots include other projects along Grand, including the 134-unit Gates Building, and in the Crossroads District, where Windows Lofts and Piper Lofts have recently come online.
Other draws Downtown are already self-sustaining, even gaining momentum. The continued success of the entertainment district is obvious, but smaller elements such as the new grocery in the River Market are equally important.
“There’s that brand new market across the street and the other businesses along Delaware Street,” Smith said. “It’s like a little community within the larger city. People like that.”
Other Downtown districts have growing attraction, too. Boveri noted that the eastern portion of the Crossroads District, and the Westside District, where even single-family, detached homes are seeing activity. “We’ve kind of been connecting the dots north and south,” she explained. “Now we’re connecting east and west.”
Joe Close, Country Club Bank regional president and a member of the Downtown Council’s Housing Committee, cited potential in the West Bottoms for a loft trend similar to the Crossroads burst of the late 1990s.
“It all feeds upon itself,” Close said. “People move in and they buy food and drink and spend money. That brings in retail. Then you get a positive feedback loop instead of a negative feedback loop.”
Though challenges are many, those who work in fields affected by Downtown redevelopment also see that positive trend as underway. In ways the suburbs can’t, they say, Downtown living brings life right to your doorstep, with art, culture and entertainment options unmatched throughout the region.