Kevin Collison
Publisher
Flatland contributor Kevin Collison is the founder of CityScene KC, an online source for downtown news and issues.
Stories by Kevin Collison
St. Joe Brewer Opening Pub in River Market
By Kevin Collison River Bluff Brewing, a St. Joseph microbrewery, is opening a location in the River Market in the historic City Water Department building this spring at 201 Second St. “Kansas City has such a great beer scene,” said Chris Lanman, founder of River Bluff. “There are so many great brewers and we always…
Covid Forces Developers to Shift Historic Scarritt, Uptown Plans
By Kevin Collison Covid has forced two developers to check out of their hotel proposals and pivot to welcoming apartment residents instead. The developer of the Scarritt office tower at 818 Grand and its adjoining Arcade now plans to redevelop the historic buildings as a 126-unit apartment project that would include a first level grocery…
Fresh Karma Going Big on Midtown Marijuana Dispensary
By Kevin Collison A long-neglected property at 240 E. Linwood across from Costco and Home Depot is slated to be the home of one of the city’s larger medical marijuana dispensaries. Construction is underway for a 5,500 square-foot dispensary operated by Fresh Karma. It’s one of three dispensaries the firm is planning. The others are…
St. Louis Developer Pursuing 228-Unit Apartment Project in Crossroads
By Kevin Collison A St. Louis developer with deep urban chops has picked up the quest to build an apartment project on the site of the vacant Faultless Linen building at 1923 Broadway in the Crossroads. Lux Living is pursuing a $50 million, 228-unit development at the northeast corner of 20th street and Broadway, the…
Plans for Apartments Sprout Like Topsy Near City Market
A wave of apartment development proposals near the City Market is raising questions about density, parking, transit and affordability for city planners.
Another Big Apartment Deal Proposed Near City Market
By Kevin Collison A 189-unit apartment project that would replace two public parking lots and span Main Street south of the City Market has been introduced to the City Council, part of an ambitious wave of housing proposals in the area. The City Planning and Development Department is recommending an entity called 500 Main Developers…
Busy Westport Intersection Calmed by Street Art
By Kevin Collison The intersection of Westport Road and Wyandotte is a calmer, more attractive place thanks to DuRon Netsell and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. A $25,000 grant from the Asphalt Art Initiative, one of Bloomberg’s philanthropic endeavors, has allowed Netsell to blend traffic-calming measures and street art to create a whole new…
Five-Story Apartment Project Proposed Near Martini Corner
By Kevin Collison A 163-unit apartment project has been proposed for the northeast corner of 31st and Gillham Road, building on the residential growth in the Union Hill, Tower East and Armour areas near downtown. Gary Hassenflu of Garrison Development is proposing the $32 million development called Levy at Martini Corner. It would require the…
Nearby Neighborhoods Big Part of ‘Imagine Downtown KC’
By Kevin Collison The Imagine Downtown KC project launched by the Downtown Council last summer is deep into reimagining a new relationship between downtown as most people know it and surrounding neighborhoods as far as Pendleton Heights and Beacon Hill. “This plan is changing our perception of downtown,” said Lynn Carlton, chairwoman of the Downtown…
FTA Grants Full $174M for Streetcar Extension to UMKC, Signing Early January
(Updated Jan. 7, 2021: Federal officials are scheduled to finalize full funding for the Main Street streetcar extension project at an event tomorrow (Friday) morning, according to a media alert from the Kansas City Streetcar Authority. Federal Transit Administration Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams, Mayor Quinton Lucas and City Manager Brian Platt, local elected officials,…