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Written by Thomas Friestad, KCBJ Staff WriterThe next two large-scale projects at Berkley Riverfront have started to advance publicly after a year or more in negotiation: an apartment complex that would become Kansas City’s first to comply with new affordable housing requirements, and the city’s first boutique hotel north of the Downtown Loop.
Next month, the Port Authority of Kansas City’s Development Committee is scheduled to review exemptions on property and sales taxes on construction materials for a $55 million, seven-story multifamily development by Lux Living and a $29 million boutique Origin Hotel by Thrash Group.
On Monday, Port KC approved expressions of intent to issue as much as $56 million and $29 million in bonds for the respective projects, as mechanisms providing for those incentives. Both developments anticipate breaking ground in the summer and opening in the winter of 2023.
Apartments
The as-yet unnamed Berkley Riverfront apartments are Lux Living’s third known project in Kansas City. The St. Louis developer in late January acquired the former Katz Drug Store in Midtown, kicking off an 185-apartment development. Another complex in place of a former Faultless Healthcare Linen building, dubbed Wonderland Crossroads, is in progress.
On the riverfront’s 2.1-acre Parcel 12B, Lux Living proposes 251 apartments — 29 studios, 176 one-bedrooms and 46 two-bedrooms — with 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and 251 structured parking spaces.
During Monday’s Port KC meeting, City Manager Brian Platt highlighted the complementary nature of the Berkley Riverfront’s current and coming projects, including the streetcar extension and Kansas City Current stadium.
