The area that is now known as the Historic West Bottoms, was one of the first areas to be plotted for housing in the Town of Kansas and was the original location for worker housing.
Founded in the 1860s, the area lies at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers and occupies land in both states. It was the original downtown and was the economic center of Kansas City, when the railroads and stockyards were its lifeblood.
The flat terrain was ideal for the railroads and with the advent of the stockyards, the West Bottoms became an essential regional and national link. The area capitalized on the industrial revolution of the railroad industry becoming a distribution hub for mid-western cattle around the nation and allowed other smaller industries such as seed warehouses, furniture stores and household products to prosper. Unfortunately, the floods of 1903 and 1951 devastated the residential, commercial and industrial district.
Significant investments have been made by Federal, State and Local governments to prevent future flooding and to provide modern infrastructure including new roads, storm, and sanitary sewers and retention systems and high-speed fiber, positioning the area perfectly for redevelopment.
MCM Company, Inc. is converting five (5) historic manufacturing buildings located on W. 9th Street and Wyoming Avenue into 265 market-rate apartments including adjoining structured parking. While maintaining the historic features of the building, the renovation will provide energy-efficient, cutting-edge design features including 69 micro-units.
The buildings are being restored in accordance with the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for Rehabilitation making the project eligible to receive Federal and State Historic Tax Credits. The $65.5 million project will generate approximately $10.9 million and $12.2 million in Federal and State Tax Credit equity, respectively.
The West Bottoms has a history of poor stormwater management. For this reason, the City of Kansas City, MO partnered with MCM to provide a $550,000 Green Infrastructure Grant for stormwater management.
MCM also partnered with Kansas City’s Public Improvements Advisory Committee to provide a $200,000 Public Right-of-Way/Streetscape Grant to improve the public right-of-way surrounding the project including new curbs and sidewalks, tree lawn landscaping, pedestrian lighting, and road patching funded.
The project also includes a conservation easement, a useful historic preservation development tool that preserves historic structures and provides equity to development projects that include historic structures.
The project will create 600 construction jobs, and at least 15 new permanent jobs. The property will generate an estimated $350,000 in new property taxes annually. The project is currently under construction complete in early 2020.
Project Information:
Role: Owner / Developer
Total Project Cost: $65,000,000
Project Schedule: 24-month Assignment
