CP Lofts apartments break ground in Columbus Park

CP Lofts, a 108-unit apartment project, has broken ground in the Columbus Park neighborhood of northeast Kansas City, finally signaling construction on a decade-old redevelopment plan.

The $19.5 million apartment complex, consisting of five buildings on the east side of Holmes Street between Third and Fifth streets, is being marketed as lofts for the “creative class.”

The concept is expected to appeal to artists and others who want to combine living and studio space in what once was a 13-acre industrial area. Units are expected to be ready for tenants in summer 2016.

Columbus Park Developers and Prairie Fire Development Group are developing the units, which will be split between market rate and affordable housing. One-bedroom units will rent for about $500 a month to about $850 a month, depending on rent classification. Two-bedroom units will rent for about $600 to about $1,100 a month.

The complex, north of the new streetcar line, is part of a long-planned Columbus Park redevelopment that took about $1 million in city infrastructure improvements. Work on sewer lines, water lines, sidewalks and new lighting began in late 2013, but that was after a decade of planning and work to clear the site.

The salt dome and street maintenance facility of the Missouri Department of Transportation was one of the industrial locations that needed to be removed. That facility was relocated to the West Bottoms.

The redevelopment includes a Fifth Street Collaboration Center, a neighborhood meeting space. The apartment project will include gallery and studio space, a bike repair shop and green space.

The apartments will be arrayed in three two-story, 16-unit buildings; one three-story, 54-unit building; and one two-story building with six units above the collaboration center.

The larger-scale redevelopment plan calls for between $70 million and $90 million in development in the neighborhood, covering about 20 acres. The plan also calls for single-family houses and retail as well as more multifamily construction.

Developers said $11 million in tax credits from the Missouri Housing Development Commission helped the apartment project get off the ground.

Prairie Fire Construction Group, Taliaferro & Brown Consulting, City Builder KC, Clockwork Architecture + Design and GastingerWalker& also are involved in the project.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 9:53 AM with the headline "CP Lofts apartments break ground in Columbus Park."