Once complete, the Jazz Hill Apartments will add 197 affordable units to KC

KANSAS CITY, Mo — 197 Affordable housing units will be coming along Paseo Boulevard in Kansas City, Mo.

The Twelfth Street Heritage Development Corporation and Flaherty & Collins Properties are spearheading the project which will be known as the Jazz Hill Apartments. The team is aiming at renovating 11 historic buildings along Paseo Boulevard between 9th and 14th Street. Some of the buildings have been abandoned for years and are over 100 years old.

"It was really important to have people from this community. Twelfth Street Heritage is right on 12th Street and it was important for people of this community to be a part of this development project because we bring the mindset," explained Alexis Williams with Twelfth Street Heritage.

The buildings will be completed and opened on a staggered basis. Crews hoped to open some buildings by the end of June, but supply chain issues and increased costs have impacted the project timeline. The project was originally estimated to cost $18 million but developers believe it's now around the $37 million range. The entire project is expected to be finished by September 2024.

"As you get into a project like this, you never know what it is that you're going to find and as a developer, once we find out that there's an issue, we're obligated to be able to fix that issue," said Dwayne Williams with Twelfth Street Heritage.

Dwayne Williams said they are working on securing additional funds and have been in contact with some Kansas City council members. According to a press release, the project is being funded by a variety of mixed monies and tax credits from local, state and federal funds. More than $4 million came from Kansas City's Central City Economic Development (CCED) Sales Tax District.

"KC has a shortage of affordable housing, this is going to help but not solve it," said Dwayne Williams.

Due to some of the funds they received they are required to set rent based on area median income. Monthly rents are estimated to be between $600 to $825 once complete.

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