Dozens of new affordable apartments open in, across from KCK’s historic City Hall
An affordable housing project preserved 44 existing apartments while adding 60 new units on a vacant lot in downtown Kansas City, Kansas.
The development team behind City Hall Place, off N. 6th St. and Ann Ave. in the Strawberry Hill area, staged a ribbon cutting on Thursday to formally celebrate the project, which included renovating existing apartments inside the historic former City Hall and constructing a new six-story apartment building across the street.
The development’s units are geared toward those making up to 40 and 60% of the area median income, which for a family of two in the Kansas City area is up to $35,680 and $53,520, according to federal data.
The former City Hall building, which is over a century old, was used by the KCK government into the 1970s and converted into apartments in the 2000s. Recent renovations included updated kitchen and bathroom fixtures, new climate control and hot water systems, new flooring and paint, updated elevators and laundry, facade and roof restoration and enhanced lighting and security systems.
In the new construction building, amenities include on-site laundry and a community room. The mixed-use building also has 6,000 square feet of space for commercial use.
William Dittman, the very first person to live in the new building, gestured toward Mr. Rogers: “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.”
Dittman moved in over the winter and has quickly made the space his own. His unit features spacious living areas — with plenty of room to display his decades-worth of antique Coca Cola memorabilia — and windows with views of downtown KCK, as seen during a personal tour with The Star.
The 60 new units for residents with lower incomes in Strawberry Hill join other efforts around KCK to boost the county’s affordable housing stock, including plans in Quindaro and other neighborhoods that could add hundreds of new houses on vacant lots.
The development team included WNC, Eagle Point Development, CVS Health and Sugar Creek Capital. Officials with the development team said Thursday that the project will ensure safe, stable housing for dozens of households while addressing the growing need for affordable housing in Kansas City.
“We cannot wait to watch this community flourish and to welcome more and more residents to their new homes,” said Chris Beurman, lead director for state strategy growth with Aetna, part of CVS Health.
Support for the project included state and federal low-income housing tax credits, state and federal tax credits for historic projects alongside equity and investments from multiple private firms, according to a news release.
“Transforming this historic property into modern affordable housing honors the building’s legacy while creating new opportunity for residents,” Neil Martelle, partner and vice president with Eagle Point Development, said in a statement.
Executive Director Ryan Vincent of Kansas Housing Resources Corporation, a nonprofit that manages federal housing programs for the state of Kansas, a historic level of investment is turning federal resources into housing all across Kansas, in both small and large communities.
But he cautioned that the state Legislature has been placing caps and limits on the program that helped support the City Hall Place project. Kansas’ affordable housing tax credit program is expected to sunset in 2028 following legislation passed and signed by the governor last year.
“They’re the policy makers. They have hard decisions to make, and I respect their role,” Vincent said. “We’ve got to make sure that we continue these investments and these conversations at the state house.”
The City Hall Place project has been in the works for years. Members of the Unified Government Board of Commissioners expressed various concerns about the project in 2024, including the elected board’s level of involvement in the process and the lease of public parking for a private development.
Other concerns at the time included the amount of notice given to surrounding property owners and the change in scope for the City Hall building, which previously included a mix of both affordable and market rate apartments after its first rehab in the mid-2000s.