Fire damages Parade Park Homes apartment building before groundbreaking ceremony
A vacant two-story apartment building caught fire Wednesday evening in the Parade Park Homes community, just two days before the city will break ground on the start of a $300 million redevelopment project of the historic Black-owned former housing cooperative near 18th and Vine Jazz District in Kansas City.
Firefighters responded to the fire shortly before 7:40 p.m. at an apartment building at Truman Road and Brooklyn Avenue, said Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins, a spokesman for the Kansas City Fire Department.
Firefighters searched the building, but no one was found inside. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Hopkins said.
Mayor Quinton Lucas, Councilmember Melissa Patterson Hazley, and U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, along with other city and community leaders, plan to hold a groundbreaking ceremony and community celebration Friday, marking the start of redevelopment of one of America’s first Black cooperative housing development.
The ceremony, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. at 1709 Woodland Avenue, is to honor Parade Park’s legacy while celebrating a new chapter that will eventually bring 1,100 affordable homes to the community, according to a release from the mayor’s office. The community celebration follows at 4 p.m.
The first phase of the project will include 480 housing units, made up of a mix of apartments, flats and townhomes in various sizes at more affordable levels, along with retail and office space.
Redevelopment of the housing cooperative have been in the works for years. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development took control of the co-op in late 2022.
Kansas City acquired the property in foreclosure in 2024 and conveyed ownership to Flaherty & Collins Development and Twelfth Street Heritage Corporation. The city approved plans for the redevelopment in fall 2024. Earlier this year, the City Council approved millions in funding from multiple sources to close a funding gap and kickstart the redevelopment.
