A plan for key urban node: Troost and Cleaver

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Vicki Noteis discussed the plan with the city council planning and zoning committee on Wednesday.

The city council on Thursday approved a redevelopment guide called the Troost-Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard Redevelopment and Implementation Plan.

“With a managed and strategic approach,…” the report states, “ it is possible to not only stabilize this important urban node, but to revitalize its historic character and strengthen the mixed income neighborhoods on both sides of Troost…”

Improvements already made to the area.

Troost corridor recent improvements.

The plan would add to the many improvements already made to the Troost corridor, it states.

City Councilman Jim Glover said, “I think it is bringing new energy to the neighborhoods on Troost.”

It covers four primary redevelopment sites in the area bounded by 45th Street on the north, Brush Creek and Volker Boulevard on the south, Campbell Street on the west and Paseo Boulevard on the east.

It recommends 232 new or rehabbed residential units, more than 260,000 square feet of new or rehabbed residential, retail and institutional space.

The total project value would be about $45.9 million, with about $10 million more needed in tax breaks to complete the cost of the project.

Vickie Noteis, an urban planner, reported to the planning and zoning committee this week land-planning-areasthat more residential is needed in the area now zoned largely commercial.

“We’re not going to have demand for retail until we have more rooftops and housing the area,” she said.

The plan is part of an initiative called Creating Sustainable Places, sponsored by the Mid-America Regional Council and funded by a federal grant.

It concludes with eight action steps to work toward its goals.

Among them:

  • Use the Kansas City land bank to pool public and civic funds to get properties needed for the plan.
  • Create a public-private management and implementation organization to work toward plan completion.
  • Adopt the plan as the official record for the area.
  • Prepare a capital improvements plan and program to fund needed public infrastructure like roads, water, sewers, open space and trails.
  • Involve state and federal politicians, institutions and civic leaders and advocates.
  • Create a public relations marketing program to attract top development talent, and to resist public and private actions that do not mesh with the plan.

The entire plan

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