Former KC Star paper warehouse in the Crossroads gets new residential life

An empty warehouse that once housed rolls of newsprint is being expanded to become a residential and commercial development at 1721 Walnut St.

Linden Street Partners, a development group that already built a new apartment building at 1914 Main St., will hold a kickoff event Wednesday that’s less of a groundbreaking and more of a roof raising.

The $7.9 million project will add two floors to a former Kansas City Star warehouse, turning it into a five-story apartment building with living units above first-floor commercial space.

The changes include significant exterior renovation of the street facade and installation of larger windows.

Linden Street principals Scott Richardson and Andrew Ganahl expect the newly named Walnut Terrace property to be ready for occupancy in August 2017.

Plans call for 38 apartment units plus a roof terrace. The units are likely to rent for between $1,200 and $1,750 a month, Richardson said.

KEM Studio, architects, Centric Projects, general contractor, and Academy Bank, lender, are among organizations that will be represented at the Wednesday event.

Kansas City’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority last year approved a property tax abatement request on the project. The incentive gave a 95 percent abatement on the development’s added value in the first 10 years and a 50 percent abatement for years 11 through 23.

The deal also called for payments in lieu of taxes of $4,000 a year for the first 10 years.

The Denver-based developers attracted a crowd of civic leaders earlier this year when they held an opening celebration for the 1914 Main apartments, built on what had been a surface parking lot. Since that March opening, the 44-unit building has been fully leased, but two units will become available in December.

Ganahl and Richardson quickly got noticed in Kansas City development circles after they came to town in 2014 to scout locations along the then-proposed streetcar line. The now-operational streetcar runs directly in front of 1914 Main and is a short block west of Walnut Terrace.

This story was originally published November 14, 2016 at 10:45 AM with the headline "Former KC Star paper warehouse in the Crossroads gets new residential life."