Nine articles explore vacant land, housing, and redevelopment in Kansas City
Kansas City faces complicated challenges around vacant land, housing, and neighborhood redevelopment. Articles highlight the city’s struggles with vacant properties, like the Washington Wheatley neighborhood where most lots now sit empty, and residents express urgency for affordable home construction. Efforts such as the Housing Accelerator program aim to simplify development and target owner-occupied homes, but environmental hurdles and past failures, including the Land Bank’s previous $1-lot sales with limited results, contribute to skepticism.
At the same time, investor-driven land grabs and bulk property sales have transformed ownership patterns, often displacing long-term residents in areas east of Troost. City leaders also consider policy changes like a vacant land tax and new demolition approval rules, showing a push for coordinated reform to revive blighted areas, build generational wealth, and protect historic neighborhoods.
NO. 1: KANSAS CITY SET ASIDE 111 LAND BANK HOUSES FOR THE HOMELESS. NOT ONE HAS BEEN REHABBED
City Manager Brian Platt promises to try again. Meanwhile, Kansas City is evaluating two proposals for new home construction. | Published November 8, 2021 | Read Full Story by Mike Hendricks
NO. 2: ‘THEY’RE TRAPPING US IN BLIGHT’: KANSAS CITY LAND BANK HAS FAILED, EAST SIDE RESIDENTS SAY
Critics say the city agency’s board doesn’t seem all that interested in putting the thousands of properties it owns to productive use and back on the tax rolls. | Published December 13, 2021 | Read Full Story by Mike Hendricks
NO. 3: LAND GRAB REMAKES KANSAS CITY’S EAST SIDE, UPENDING NEIGHBORHOODS, STAR INVESTIGATION FINDS
“We lose control of our neighborhoods and livelihood,” said one researcher who has examined the influx of investors buying up Kansas City’s East Side. “Now we have people and organizations in our suburbs and in 2,000 cities across the globe that hold the wealth of the city.” | Published December 12, 2021 | Read Full Story by Eric Adler
NO. 4: USE THIS MAP TO SEE LOCATION OF KANSAS CITY LAND BANK, HOMESTEADING AUTHORITY PARCELS
This interactive map shows the addresses and status of city-owned properties on the East Side. | Published December 13, 2021 | Read Full Story by Neil Nakahodo
NO. 5: MAKING HAY: HOW KANSAS DEVELOPERS CALL VACANT LAND FARMS TO WIN BIG PROPERTY TAX BREAKS
One piece of undeveloped land within Wyandotte County’s Plaza at the Speedway could see the yearly tax bill reduced from $25,031 to about $17, according to the appraiser’s office. | Published May 22, 2024 | Read Full Story by Bill Lukitsch
NO. 6: HOUSE BY HOUSE, A KANSAS CITY NEIGHBORHOOD BEGAN TO DISAPPEAR. CAN IT BE REBUILT?
A new pilot program is aimed at encouraging developers to build much-needed housing on city-owned vacant lots on Kansas City’s East Side. | Published June 25, 2024 | Read Full Story by Mike Hendricks
NO. 7: AS KC HOME DEMOLITIONS CONTINUE, MAYOR SAYS CITY SHOULD TAX VACANT LAND. CAN IT DO THAT?
Officials are studying the idea as the city works on other ways to get empty properties back online. | Published November 25, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Higgins
NO. 8: A NEW RULE IN KANSAS CITY COULD DELAY DEMOLITIONS OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS
A proposed new review process comes after several demolitions of old houses in the Valentine neighborhood. | Published December 4, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Higgins
NO. 9: KANSAS CITY TO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT HOW IT HANDLES ITS 17,000 VACANT PROPERTIES
A new initiative to get vacant properties back to use would seek to turn an entrenched problem into an opportunity for the city. | Published May 14, 2025 | Read Full Story by Chris Higgins
The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.