All over the Country, a push toward urban renewal and downtown living is bringing people in from the suburbs and outlying towns and back to urban centers. High-rise apartment complexes are springing up in many cities and Kansas City is one of the communities leading the move toward a more vibrant, lively, and populous urban core.
Since the construction of the Sprint Center in 2007 and the Power & Light District in 2008, downtown Kansas City has seen a massive surge in vitality, with new shopping, dining, and entertainment venues drawing residents from downtown as well as the suburbs. Power & Light provides live entertainment, performance venues, and a world-class movie theater in the form of the Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet, as well as fine dining and shopping options for just about every taste. With the groundbreaking on the new One Light apartment plaza on the corner of 13th and Walnut, the Power & Light District is set to add upscale high-rise living to its list of amenities.
At 25 stories, the 343,000-square-foot luxury complex won’t be challenging the 42-story, 624-foot-tall One Kansas City Place—just a few blocks away—for the title of tallest building in the city. Instead, it will add a striking new figure to the Kansas City skyline – and it’s just one of four similar apartment buildings that developer Cordish Company is planning for the area.
When it’s completed, One Light will boast 315 one- and two-bedroom apartments and house around 450 residents, all on a lot of about 1/3 of an acre—that’s a footprint of around 900 apartments per acre! The units will range from 580 to 1,300 square feet and will feature wood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, stainless steel appliances, in-unit washers and dryers, and, of course, access to Google Fiber.
The amenities of the One Light complex won’t end with its apartments. Residents will have immediate access to all the sights and sounds of downtown Kansas City. The Power & Light District is at their doorstep and they’ll have convenient access to the rooftop Jones Pool, as well as in-room grocery delivery from Cosentino’s Market, a fitness center, and ticket concierge service for nearby concert halls and venues. One Light will be opening its doors at about the same time as the city’s new 2.2-mile downtown streetcar line, which will link River Market, Power & Light, the Crossroads Arts District, and Union Station. A stop on the streetcar line will be just out the front door of the One Light complex.
One Light is the first new residential tower to be built in downtown Kansas City in several years, but it’s only the latest step in the transformation of Kansas City into one of the nation’s most vibrant and inviting downtown communities. Leasing will officially begin in October 2014 with waiting list members given priority on units on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Sources: KC Business Journal, Property Management Insider, One Light KC