Kansas City: Brownfields Commission (July 10, 2026)

By Sydney Ruffin, Kansas City Documenter

See more about this meeting at Documenters.org

Summary

• The commission, which includes an appointee from the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, “guides and promotes redevelopment with environmental barriers,” according to an online summary from the city.
• Brownfields Manager Andrew Bracker updated commission members on  projects, including a nearly $4 million cleanup grant in KCK.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has significantly reduced the maximum award available through a cleanup program.
• The need to clean up contamination in vacant “brownfield” lots is an issue throughout the region.

Notes

Grants report:

• The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, was awarded a $3.7 million EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant for Douglass/Sumner vacant lots. The grant will fund cleanup of 54 lots in the northeast KCK neighborhood that have lead and soil gas contamination. The lots are among 220 vacant lots that were originally assessed. The remaining 166 lots were not cleared for redevelopment.
• KCMO was awarded a $1 million EPA Brownfields Supplemental Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grant. Bracker said the city had received several such grants in years past. This latest grant enhances funding through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• The Urban Neighborhood Initiative was awarded a $1 million EPA Brownfields Multipurpose Grant for the Unity Campus at 24th and Vine streets.
• The Parade Parks Homes Redevelopment, 1903 E. 15th Terrace, received an amendment to its loan agreement to increase the loan by $242,103 and add HUD 202 properties.
• The Unity Campus, a project at the former Wendell Phillips Elementary School, was given a $1 million EPA Brownfields grant for soil testing and cleanup at the former athletic fields north of the school building. Substances also need to be remediated from the school complex. Work is also underway seeking a $500,000 subgrant for the project, Bracker said. The building is at 24th Street and Highland Avenue.
• Reports on two other project applications in KCMO were held until the commission’s next meeting: a $1.2 million RLF loan request for the Smith Building Lofts, 1101 Mulberry Ave., in the West Bottoms, and a $500,000 RLF loan request for the Belmont Building, 911 E. Linwood Blvd.

Kansas City Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Program:

• Before and during the abatement activities at the Parade Park redevelopment that started in January, a series of fires occurred on the site’s structures. This increased the remediation cost by $236,000.
• The increased cost will require reducing funds for other projects, Bracker said.
• The motion was approved.
• Bracker said the Smith Building Lofts and the Belmont Building had been put on hold because more information was needed to determine eligibility for the funds. 

Brownfields grants and financial manager position update: 

• The search for candidates continues, Bracker said. Interviews were slated to be scheduled for the week or two following the meeting.

Monitoring vacant properties’ assessments and remediation (Bracker): 

• The Housing Accelerator Program $4 million Brownfields Cleanup Grant was awarded in 2025. Their consultant developed a plan, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources is helping. Field work is expected to start and be completed by year’s end.
  • Assessments were completed on 23 additional properties in late 2025 and funds have been secured. The work’s cost is about $1.6 million.
  • The EPA and the program for targeted ground assistance assessed 169 vacant lots last year but didn’t receive a grant to cover the cost. Eighty of the lots had lead levels above the EPA’s regional screening level. A search is underway for other funding sources. 
  • In addition to Washington-Wheatley, the East Community and Northeast Community South neighborhoods have 379 additional lots that EPA assessed in 2025 and 2026. Reports on those lots reveal about 23% of them have lead levels above the EPA screening level. 

Other project updates by Bracker:

Historic Northeast Lofts Project, 5401 Independence Ave., KCMO:

• Remediation started in March.
• A $7.5 million loan is financing remediation of the 12-story, 600,000-square-foot tower. 
• “The remediation is not only asbestos and lead-based paint,” Bracker said, “but it’s the replacement of massive historic windows in the structure with new historically compliant windows.”

Zhou B Art Center, 1818 E. 19th St., KCMO:

• This project is completed. A $500,000 art loan was used and is being repaid. 

Ladd School, 3640 Benton Blvd., KCMO:

• This project is in its design and resource-attainment state. This project works with different sources of renewable energy and can be used for affordable housing. 

Northeast Grocers Co-op, 1726 Quindaro Blvd., KCK: 

• The city has worked with this nonprofit grocery co-op for years. A signed agreement is expected within weeks for property from PRIDE KCK Firefighters to groundworks.

601 Minnesota Ave., KCK:

• The commission discussed this new project at its Feb. 13 meeting.
• The redevelopment project is a seven-story commercial building in downtown KCK. The building was completed in 1926 as the Commercial National Bank.
• Plans envision the basement and first two floors as commercial space, with the upper floors converted into 21 to 23 market‑rate residential units with one‑ and two‑bedroom layouts. 
• Build WyCo intends to retain a portion of the commercial space for its organizational headquarters, leaving space for other organizations and potential gathering space for the community.
• The commission is working with organizers and their environmental consultant. Asbestos-containing panels were found during work on the building.

Financial report:

• Bracker verified slightly less than $1.5 million in unobligated resources for new loans and subgrants for other projects.

Grant opportunities:

• The EPA informed Bracker that the grant amount for 2027 applications will be received in September or October. 
• Cleanup grants will drop from a maximum of $4 million to $5 million to $500,000. This is separate from money through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• Coalition grants will be a maximum of $1 million. Communitywide assessment grants will be a maximum of $500,000.
• “These are still resources we will seek in the future,” Bracker said. “We are spending down as much of the assessment grant money before Sept. 30 to prepare for the next round of asking for money.”

Observations & Follow-Up Questions

• Do grant applications and awards seem equitably distributed among all projects?
• Will grant and loan money continue to be available for remaining projects? What factors affect whether they will be available?
• How well are grant and loan recipients using the awards and tracking the projects’ progress?

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@thebeacon.media with “Correction Request” in the subject line. Learn more about Documenters on our website.