CBKC awarded $800,000 grant for Blue Parkway Sun Fresh

Emmet Pierson, Jr., chief executive officer of Community Builders of Kansas City (CBKC), announced this week that the organization has received an $800,000 grant from the Office of Community Services (OCS) to serve job retention and creation for Blue Parkway Sun Fresh.

CBKC became the owner / operator of the grocery store - one of the few full-service supermarkets east of Prospect Avenue - in June of this year.

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt and U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II were instrumental in supporting CBKC’s application for the OCS grant. Rep. Cleaver participated in a ceremonial check presentation at an outdoor concert of Kansas City Symphony musicians hosted by CBKC last weekend.

“At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is causing organizations to shed jobs by the thousands, CBKC has an opportunity to not only keep and add jobs but do so in a critically underserved community. The fact that this allows us to grow a grocery asset in what otherwise would be another urban food desert is especially gratifying,” Pierson said.

Blue Parkway Sun Fresh currently has more than 60 employees, the majority of whom live in the same or adjacent zip codes.

This OCS grant followed a $500,000 city of Kansas City, Mo. grant received from the office of Neighborhoods & Housing Services. The city’s grant, part of monies funded to combat local effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, will enable CBKC to add online grocery ordering and pick-up services at Blue Parkway Sun Fresh.

“Blue Parkway Sun Fresh already has a great leadership team with John King as store manager and others like Michelle Mitchell of the Stapleton family, whose grandfather Leon Stapleton owned what is thought to have been the oldest black-owned grocery store in the country until it closed in 2019. We are developing the most modern of supermarkets with the warmest, most old-school customer service, Pierson said.

Unrelated to the grocery, another recently received COVID-19 grant from Neighborhoods & Housing Services for $592,000 will enable CBKC, in partnership with the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation (HEDC), to expand services at the Blue Hills Executive Center. Pierson said HEDC will provide technical assistance at the Center, housed in the CBKC-owned 5008 Prospect building, to minority and women entrepreneurs as they look to reposition or start a business in the COVID and post-COVID era.

“We are pleased to see the growth in national attention and funding coming to CBKC projects. With the $100,000 JPMorgan Chase grant last year and this most recent OCS grant, we hope it is just the tip of the iceberg of new, national equity finding value in what CBKC is working to accomplish for Kansas City’s black and brown communities,” Pierson said.

Tee time set for Metro North Crossing's T-Shotz

Kansas City’s locally-owned, next-generation golf and entertainment venue, T-Shotz, has scheduled next week to “tee off” a series of grand opening events to celebrate their public debut.

Located at Kansas City’s Metro North Crossing redevelopment, T-Shotz features 66 spacious, climate-controlled hitting bays and suites across three levels where guests can eat, drink and socialize while playing a variety of golf games and virtual courses on the expansive 220-yard, targeted driving range.  

On Tuesday, October 13, T-Shotz will open to the public and will remain open every day of the week thereafter from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday evening will include a private, invitation-only VIP event from 6 to 8 p.m. for local dignitaries.

Grand opening events will continue on October 14th and 15th with a fundraiser where guests in attendance may purchase raffle tickets. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to TeamSmile, a nonprofit organization that provides free dental care and oral health education in a sports-related model.

T-Shotz is partnering with the Kansas City-founded organization who conducts huge dental clinics in stadiums and arenas throughout the country and uses the combination of players, cheerleaders, mascots, face painters and a DJ to provide a special, life-changing experience to children in need.

“One of the biggest differentiators between us and similar venues or concepts is we are local to the core. We have local ownership, offer a chef-inspired menu with locally-sourced ingredients, serve handcrafted cocktails and beers from local distilleries and craft breweries and our partnership with a great Kansas City charity like TeamSmile furthers that. We are excited to help raise money for such a tremendous organization.” said T-Shotz general manager, JW Fisher.

To date, TeamSmile has conducted over 225 programs, served more than 50,000 children and provided over $17 million in free dental care and oral health education.

Guests can now begin reserving hitting bays for October 13 and beyond at www.tshotz.com.

Read previous, related MWM articles here:

August 2020: Metro North Crossing Apartments begins construction, sets fall 2021 opening

October 2019: Construction underway at Metro North Crossings' T-Shotz

New York firm buys Fountain View apartments on the Plaza

CBRE has arranged the sale of Fountain View on the Plaza, a 398-unit luxury apartment community located adjacent to Kansas City’s County Club Plaza.

A global investment advisor sold the property to an affiliate of Abacus Capital Group in an undisclosed transaction that closed in September 2020.

The deal represents a return to the Kansas City market for the New York-based buyer after exiting in 2016 with the sale of the 596-unit Northland Passage Apartments in the metro’s Northland submarket.

Jeff Stingley, an executive vice president in CBRE’s Kansas City office, along with senior associates Max Helgeson and Michael Spero, represented the seller in the transaction.

“Fountain View is the community of choice for Kansas City renters wanting to live at the doorstep of the metro’s top amenities and attractions, while at a discount to the submarket’s newer developments and single-family homes. The high-profile, in-fill site is among the best in the Midwest and will provide significant risk mitigation for future ownership while also enabling a perpetual modernization strategy that will drive rents and provide extraordinary yields,” Stingley said.

The stretch of Main Street directly in front of the property has been slated as a high-volume stop on the future KC Streetcar line. With the planned southern extension from Union Station to 51st Street, Fountain View will also be included as a “transit-oriented development.”

“Kansas City’s multifamily market continues to show its resiliency despite the pandemic and resulting economic slowdown. The metro’s diverse economic base and concentration of durable industries have positioned Kansas City as a safe-haven for capital and buyers are knocking down our door to find opportunities,” Stingley said.

With this sale included, CBRE’s Kansas City multifamily group has completed $250 million in metro apartment sales so far in 2020, according to Stingley.

Opus Group delivers Westley on Broadway apartments to Westport

This week The Opus Group announced the completion of Westley on Broadway, a six-story, mixed-use apartment complex in the heart of Kansas City's historic Westport neighborhood on the corner of Westport Road and Broadway Boulevard.

Comprised of 254-units and two furnished community guest suites, residents will enjoy the luxury features within each unit, including chef-inspired kitchens and stainless steel appliances, nine-foot ceilings, designer backsplashes, smart-unit technology, luxury wood-style flooring and in-unit stackable washers and dryers. Units are offered in a mix of junior studio, studio, alcove, and one- and two-bedroom floorplans.

Additional features include onsite storage with available bike storage, pet-friendly living with a pet spa and dog washing station, electric vehicle charging stations and a 24-hour state-of-the-art fitness center.

“The wellness center is an additional amenity that is advantageous to residents. Comparable to any high-end, full service gym, features include fitness machines, a cross training rig, barbells and free weights, a private fitness studio with a TV for utilization of personal training classes or training apps, a full size sauna and Wi-Fi spin bikes with on-demand classes. Residents can also continue to use the heated pool throughout October this year," said Devon Coffey, senior manager at Opus.

Besides the plethora of amenities, the six-story apartment development also includes three levels of underground parking and 10,000 SF of retail space.

To complement the surrounding architectural details, and give a nod to the history of Westport, Opus selected a blend of red brick and added oversized windows and heavily framed black retail storefronts with overhead steel beams.

Opus is the developer, design-builder, interior designer, architect and structural engineer of record.

Read related December 2018 MWM article here: http://www.metrowiremedia.com/news/opus-mixed-use-poised-to-trigger-westport-road-redevelopment