KC Catalytic Urban Redevelopment Initiative
Greater Kansas City LISC is working in partnership with the City of Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO), Urban Neighborhood Initiative (UNI), Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), and the Kansas City District Council of the Urban Land Institute to redevelop Kansas City’s urban core east of Troost Avenue.
Released in October 2016, the KC-CUR Implementation Strategy strives to overcome some of Kansas City’s most entrenched barriers to creating healthy markets east of Troost Avenue. Its recommendations are based on the principles of focusing resources, investing in public infrastructure, leveraging multi-sector capital resources, and building up the resident population to cultivate a local, vibrant economy. This collaborative investment strategy is the result of extensive research and neighborhood engagement.
Four Priority Areas have been identified as being well-positioned to receive targeted attention and investment from public, private and philanthropic partners in order to have the greatest positive impact for the community. UNI has expanded its capacity to serve as the “Implementation Delivery System” for KC-CUR, which means it will build the internal talent and financial balance sheet to function as a master developer and successfully compete for local and national public funding sources. LISC, in building upon the current success of its Catalytic Urban Predevelopment Fund, will identify opportunities to provide gap financing and leverage private capital to meet the goals outlined in the original KC-CUR strategy report.
KC-CUR Priority Areas
The four KC-CUR Priority Areas have been selected because they provide a compelling stage for focused, sustained investments that can have a ripple effect and strengthen the prosperity for the entire UNI area.
The KC-CUR Priority Areas were chosen on the basis of:
- Existing Investment or Improvement Activity
- Proximity to Key Transportation Corridors
- Community / Stakeholder Support and Capacity
- Site & Programmatic Opportunities for Investment or Interventions
- Catalytic Opportunities for Investment or Interventions
KC-CUR Core Strategies
As work on KC-CUR progresses, we have identified three core strategies:
Patient Capital
Gap financing to ensure housing affordability and expand access to capital for women- and minority-owned business enterprises (W/MBEs) in KC-CUR Priority Areas.
Commercial Corridor Business Infrastructure
Support for community development capacity building, including community development corporations, community improvement districts (CIDs) and merchant associations, to provide coordinated district-level marketing and business recruitment/retention.
W/MBE Support
Enhancing access to capital by providing one-on-one technical assistance, business coaching, and training/workshops focusing on accounting, legal services, marketing, and business strategy, all through a culturally-competent framework, tailored to the demonstrated needs of W/MBEs
LISC’s national Business Development Organization (BDO) Network is a core implementation component of KC-CUR, and provides one-on-one technical assistance and capital access support to small businesses in our KC-CUR Priority Areas.
In 2019, LISC Greater Kansas City launched a Small Business Opportunity Survey to identify specific barriers for women- and minority-owned business enterprises (W/MBEs) within the Urban Neighborhood Initiative service area, and to devise strategies could be implemented to help local W/MBEs reach their fullest economic potential.
The Revitalization Scenario for 31st and Troost reflects a comprehensive, stakeholder-driven vision that integrates with existing plans and initiatives, identifies catalytic projects and implementation strategies, and accelerates redevelopment to support a long-term equitable, diverse and livable community.
This redevelopment plan offers a community-based vision and implementation strategies for revitalizing a six-block section of 39th Street, bordered by Euclid Avenue on the west and Prospect Avenue on the east.
The KC-CUR Implementation Strategy Report. This analysis was guided by five guiding principles that reflect the conditions and collective thoughts of those who live and work in the UNI.
