What’s going up on the vacant Kansas City lot where an ice cream plant used to be?

A new apartment could take the place of a hole in the ground where an ice cream plant once stood.

The proposed Levy at Martini Corner, a 158-unit apartment building at 500 E. 31st St., is going through the city review process, records show. The Levy would include market rate apartments, enclosed parking and restaurant or event space alongside amenities for residents, according to the project’s website.

The project, by developer Garrison and MW Companies, received initial city approvals in 2021.

The Levy will take the place of what was once a Velvet Freeze ice cream manufacturing plant and shop, which was open by 1948 and up for a close-out equipment auction in 1980, according to the Star archives. A mural was visible on the side of the building — Enjoy the finest Velvet Freeze Ice Cream — until it was demolished in 2023.

The project’s name pays homage to the building’s original user from the 1920s, the Levy Brothers Meat and Provision Company, according to the developer.

The Levy will be within walking distance of Crown Center and the KC Streetcar along Main Street after the streetcar’s expansion.