by Mary Rupert
Plans are changing for a new grocery store in the downtown area of Kansas City, Kansas, and that signals a growing interest in development for the downtown area.
Instead of a grocery store near 11th and Minnesota, the new proposed location will be near 5th and Minnesota, it was announced last week.
The Healthy Campus project, which was been in the planning stages several years, had included a combined YMCA and new grocery store near the Big 11 Lake area at 11th and Minnesota. However, the Unified Government separated the YMCA from the grocery store project in February to work on each part.
Greg Kindle, president of the Wyandotte Economic Development Council, said the route the administration and commission is taking is thoughtful, fiscally sound and makes a lot of sense.
“I think anytime that we can follow the market is a good idea,” Kindle said. “I think this plan makes sense for taxpayers and provides certainty for both the private sector as well as the government.
It also signals a growing interest in the core downtown development, he said. It is part of a bigger discussion on how to redevelop downtown.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Kindle said.
He said the downtown needed the earlier announcement that KU Health Systems was moving into the old EPA building near 5th and Minnesota in order for other things to happen.
“Having KU a large investor in the downtown is a good sign,” he said. It will help the Wyandotte Economic Development Council interest other retail developers.
Besides the grocery store and the KU Health Systems projects, the Kaw Point Meadery on 6th Street is another retailer coming into the corridor, he said. There have been discussions about expansions or redevelopment at the Main Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library, multi-family housing and other developments.
These are all coming together to say there is interest in downtown, a resurgence in a core area, he said.
“There is always discussion going on about downtown investment, even in the darkest days or when things seem bleak,” he said. “It’s finding that right combination of private-sector investment coupled with public sector.”
It takes a longer time to find the persons and the right funding mechanisms to make a grocery store project work in the core area, he said. Each different proposal or financial model needs to be examined, and it takes time, he added.
“I think we are on the right course, and we are at a much better place today than we have been in years,” Kindle said.
While new economic development is on the horizon in areas such as the Turner Diagonal, they also continue to look for ways to bring development east, he added. The community is very fortunate in that it has so many opportunities, he said.
“We are happy that the grocery store project is still going forward,” said Jason Norbury, executive director of the Downtown Shareholders.
The former location of the project was in the Downtown Shareholders service area, as is in the current location, he noted.
In the downtown Kansas City, Kansas, area, the YMCA is still exploring the options for reopening downtown, and received a grant to study the project, he said.
The Main Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library, at 625 Minnesota Ave., is looking at a new project downtown with significant changes, he said.
And it was announced earlier that the old EPA building in downtown Kansas City, Kansas, will become a KU Health Systems building.
“That’s a game-changer,” Norbury said, “it is a big deal and will have an impact.”
The Northeast Master Plan meetings identified one of the top goals of the community as a new grocery store. Elnora Jefferson, former director of the Historic Northeast-Midtown Association, said she considers the location at 5th and Minnesota, as well as the former location at 11th and Minnesota, not in the northeast Kansas City, Kansas, area. The new location is closer to the northeast area than the former proposed location, she said. The northeast area is north of the proposed downtown grocery location.
Jefferson said she was hoping that the operator of the downtown grocery and the UG would develop some kind of incentive program to allow a mentorship relationship for a northeast operation.
The UG economic development director and four UG commissioners did not have a comment for this story.