Port KC: Development Committee (June 8, 2026)

By Connye Griffin, Kansas City Documenter

See more about this meeting at Documenters.org

Summary

• Port KC’s Development Committee considered issuing $1.2 billion in conduit bond funds for seven housing, office and hotel developments projected to provide several hundred jobs by 2030.
• Using property, sales and in some cases personal property tax exemptions as incentives, the committee advanced two of the seven projects without a recommendation. On unanimous votes, the committee recommended approval of five other projects.
• Recommended projects included major redevelopments in Downtown Kansas City and an industrial expansion on the city’s east side.

Notes

Meeting Attendance (committee members)

• Chairperson Claire Terrebonne
• Jack Steadman (online)
• Morgan Said (online)
• Kevin O’Neill

Consideration of Resolutions

• Plaza Club City Apartments at 46th and Jefferson streets was advanced to the board without recommendation. The $41 million project includes:
  • A 10-story structure for 214 apartments consisting of studios and one, two, and three bedrooms.
  • Of the planned units, 108 are slated as affordable units.
  • It is not a prevailing-wage project because its inception predates Port KC’s prevailing-wage policy effective April 1, 2026.
  • The tax compliance payment schedule was set at 30 years, a lengthy timeframe that prompted O’Neill and Steadman to express concern after hearing from Kansas City Public Schools’ Kathleen Pointer.
  • Pointer, who attended the meeting online, said the school district was “begging (Port KC) not to set this precedent” on this particular type of project because of its impact on property tax funding for the district.
• Developer Daniel Kaplan was asked to offer another proposal by the end of the week that would not extend to 30 years.
• O’Neill and Pointer expressed concerns about the parameters for affordable housing units in light of Pointer’s remark about housing affordability as reported by teachers, who said that 60% of area median income was unaffordable for them. O’Neill asked who the end consumer was if teachers couldn’t afford to lease or own. O’Neill said the criteria for affordability needed review.

• 46th and Walnut Streets Apartment Complex was also advanced to the board without recommendation after Pointer noted reports that local developer Flint Development LLC was affiliated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center controversies in Oklahoma City and Texas. John McGurk, representing Flint, said he couldn’t speak to the matter because he was uninvolved with that side of the business. The project calls for:
  • A three-story apartment building with 151 units and 193 parking spaces that would generate more tax revenue by transforming an undeveloped vacant lot along the Main Street streetcar route.
  • Flint has agreed to contribute $755,000 to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
  • Funds requested were not to exceed $43 million if approved by the board.

• 1101 Mulberry, the Historic Smith Building in the West Bottoms, was recommended to the board for bond funds not to exceed $60 million. The project is a complete renovation of a vacant building.
  • The project will pay prevailing wage.
  • The renovation will add retail/commercial space; 105 studio, one- and two-bedroom units; and 22 parking spaces.
  • The renovation will add value to a vacant, historic building and area. Tax revenues will increase after renovation.
  • However, due to location and cost, Steadman asked representatives of  Emet Capital Management, Kyle FitzGerald and Zachary Parsons, about the economic viability of the project. FitzGerald said one safeguard is the extensive vetting by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the loan it would provide.

• Custom Truck One Source’s request for $50 million to buy and use a building at 4343 Clary Blvd. for manufacturing was recommended to the board for issuance of conduit bonds.
  • Custom Truck began in 1996 with 15 employees. Now a national company, Custom Truck employs 2,000 and expects to add 200 more at the Clary site at an estimated average salary of $81,000 a year.
  • The project will make use of the former International Paper Co. facility and enhance tax revenues.

• “How to make Grand grand?” Project at Eighth Street and Grand involves a full city block and the historic Scarritt building. The developers are BR Companies and U Music Hotel Development. The project would include:
  • A music-economy hub and a 1,400-seat entertainment venue.
  • 319 apartment units, one 167-room hotel and 574 parking stalls.
  • An up-front contribution to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The amount was not specified.
  • The committee voted to recommend the project to the board for issuance of $480 million in conduit bonds.

• Encore at 16th Street and Broadway was recommended to the board for issuance of $500 million in conduit bonds. The project is a mixed-use development in three phases for three buildings providing 392 multifamily units, 1,158 parking stalls and corporate office, retail and dining space.
  • Phased contributions of $2 million to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
  • Benefits following this project include one of the best views of the city skyline and the Kauffman Performing Arts Center and a walkable mixed-use area.
  • The developer, EPC Real Estate Group, has extensive local experience and recently relocated its headquarters from Overland Park to downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

• Hunt Midwest Business Center Logistics VII requested $45.1 million for the second phase of an industrial building project initially approved in 2023. The committee recommended this project to the board for issuance of bond funding. The committee asked for assurance that the building would not be used for a detention center prior to the board’s meeting.

• Home2Home Suites, funded by a 2016 bond series, will be transferred to new owner Crain Co. of Wichita. Crain also owns several other properties near Home2Home at 20th and Main streets. The terms of the original bond will not change. The committee recommended consent to the reassignment.

Observations & Follow-Up Questions

• How much tax revenue is possible as a result of Port KC’s conduit bond agreements?
• How will Kansas City Public Schools adjust for tax exemptions used to incentivize development?
• How well do developers pay when not required to pay a prevailing wage?

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