Kansas City may sell a downtown parking lot

A rare surface parking lot in the heart of Kansas City’s downtown got a lot of attention Wednesday for what it might become: Parking.

The city-owned property on 12th Street between Grand Boulevard and McGee Street is sought by Sunflower Development Group in connection with plans to redevelop the largely vacant Traders on Grand office building into apartments.

To turn the 20-story tower at 1125 Grand into residential use, the plan needs more parking, according to Sunflower principal Jason Swords.

The City Council Plans & Zoning Committee and the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority each recommended an eventual property transfer from the city to LCRA. The LCRA subsequently would sell it to the still-to-be-approved redeveloper for an agreed-upon fair market value of $1,221,703.

The proposal goes to the City Council for final approval.

As written, the transfer would exclude the northernmost 13 feet of the property on 12th Street, which would be allocated for an expanded bus shelter planned by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.

Swords said Sunflower has the 1963-era building under contract and hopes to begin a $55 million redevelopment plan next year. The plan calls for 196 market-rate apartments above two stories of office/retail.

Sword said the building hasn’t been renovated since the 1980s and needs to have windows and mechanical systems replaced. He said all except one of the few remaining office tenants are on month-to-month leases.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Kansas City may sell a downtown parking lot."