Kansas City, MO officials reveal riverfront development plans

Dive Brief:

The Kansas City (MO) Port Authority unveiled its plans on Wednesday to transform the city's riverfront into a live-work-play destination, according to Fox 4 News.
The 80-acre Berkeley Riverfront Park development will first offer up 400 apartments, 6 acres of retail space and a restaurant. The city is also considering building a connector there to the Kansas City streetcar.
The project experienced early delays, according to the Kansas City Business Journal, but developers say they are now on track to complete the first phase of the project next summer.

Dive Insight:

Kansas City is not the only municipality to look at its underutilized waterfront and see significant investment opportunity. Tampa, FL, developers recently announced details of their plans to build a $3 billion, mixed-use project on the city's downtown waterfront along Garrison Channel, which is one of the Port of Tampa waterways.

The project, a joint venture between Bill Gates' Cascade Investment and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, will take up 57 acres — 9 million square feet — and feature a combination of 1,400 condominiums and apartments, hotels, retail and a University of South Florida's medical facility. The project will also bring downtown Tampa its first office building in 25 years.

Earlier this month, the San Diego Unified Port District board and Chula Vista (CA) City Council announced they had signed a developer agreement for a $1 billion resort hotel and convention center for the Chula Vista waterfront. Houston-based RIDA Development will build a 1,450-room Gaylord Hotel and 275,000 square feet of convention space, which officials said will generate 3,100 construction jobs and $390 million in annual economic benefit for the local area.

Gramor Development also announced this month that it had secured a $42.5 million construction loan allowing work to move forward on a $1 billion waterfront project along the Columbia River in Vancouver. WA. The company said it completed necessary infrastructure work, and next up is a seven-story office building and a 63-unit, luxury apartment building, both of which will have ground floor restaurants and retail. Ultimately, the project will deliver 3,300 residential units and 1.3 million square feet of office space, along with additional retail, a hotel and dining space.