Developer drops plan for $55 million apartment complex at Kansas City’s riverfront
Lux Living, which faced opposition to its plan to build a $55 million apartment complex along the Missouri River at Berkley Riverfront, has pulled out of the project, the Port Authority of Kansas City, the agency that controls development along the river, confirmed.
The St. Louis company had planned to construct a complex with seven floors, 254 apartment units and 2,598 square feet of commercial space. The project faced stiff pushback from KC Tenants, an advocacy group with a focus on affordable housing, noting a history of complaints against the developer from tenants of its other projects.
In May 2022, the development hit a major roadblock when the board of Port KC denied Lux’s request for a 25-year property tax exemption. Four months later, the Kansas City Plan Commission nonetheless approved the developer’s plan to build the complex.
Lux and Port KC entered into a purchase agreement for 2.2 acres along the riverfront. That agreement lapsed in July.
Lux’s decision to drop the riverfront project was first reported Wednesday by The Kansas City Business Journal.
Jon Stephens, president and chief executive officer of Port KC, told The Star that Lux Living and Port KC “mutually agreed” to let the purchase agreement expire.
“We have already had extensive interest in the site,” Stephens said, “and look forward to bringing forward a new development that benefits the community and continued that exciting transformation of the riverfront.”
Development there has been brisk, highlighted by the 11,500-seat stadium now under construction for the Kansas City Current women’s soccer team. In July, Port KC approved the sale of 10.7 acres to KC Current to support its plan over the next decade to create a mixed-use neighborhood around the stadium that would include as many as 1,000 residences.
Two large complexes, Union Berkley Riverfront and CORE, already occupy the riverfront. The Origin Hotel, with 118 rooms, is under construction and set to be completed in 2024. In March, Port KC announced that a two-story, open-air Berkley Beer Garden will open in 2024 around the same time as the KC Current stadium. A riverfront streetcar extension is set to open in 2025.
Lux has other Kansas City projects in development, including a 215-unit Wonderland complex in the Crossroads Arts District near 20th Street and Broadway Boulevard. Katz on Main, a 185-apartment complex, is under construction at 30th Street and Main.
Over the years, tenant complaints have plagued Lux, bringing it unfavorable press coverage and lawsuits. In April 2022, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Lux Living tenants who moved into expensive new apartments to find they weren’t yet completed.
Tenant complaints date back to at least 2016, when the Riverfront Times in the St. Louis area documented problems with cockroaches, maintenance issues and bait-and-switch practices from the company, which at the time was called Asprient.
