Dorri Partain
Dorri Partain
Managing Editor
In neighborhoods throughout Historic Northeast, vacant properties await new owners and redevelopment. Three lots in Indian Mound, sitting vacant for a dozen years or more, will see new housing built and occupied within the coming year.
On Thursday, March 20, representatives from reStart, the Indian Mound Neighborhood Association and others welcomed U.S. House of Representatives legislator, Emanuel Cleaver II in a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the construction of three housing units, which will provide affordable housing for up to five families.
Lots at 5407 Smart, 413 Hardesty and 412 Drury avenues were obtained through Kansas City’s Land Bank program. These lots are all on the same block, north of Independence Avenue and obtained by reStart through private funding.
An excavator decorated with a cluster of purple balloons at 412 Drury Ave., marked the site of this morning ceremony as regular neighborhood activity commenced — trash trucks rolling by, roosters crowing and emergency vehicles zooming to their destinations.
Stephanie Boyer, chief executive officer for reStart, opened the presentation stating she was excited to be there and how reStart — a houseless assistance agency — sees firsthand the need for affordable housing.
“We talk about affordability … we’re talking about affordability at any and every income level in our community,” said Boyer, adding that when rent is 50 to 60% of your income, it may only take one incident to become unhoused.
Another component is the reuse of vacant land to provide housing and rebuild communities.
“In neighborhoods that have vacant land,” Boyer said, “to bring homes back into that neighborhood, bring families back … by being strategic and creating a variety of units, we allow for these opportunities.”
Emanuel Cleaver II, District 5 House of Representatives, spoke next, starting with the crisis of homelessness nationwide.
“On this very night to come, over 800,000 Americans will not have a place to sleep,” he said. “They are all over; they are hurting. The embarrassment for us, as a nation, ought to be that people are houseless in a nation that is rich, compared to the rest of the world.”
Cleaver concluded his remarks stating he was excited to support upStart with the announcement — presented as an enlarged check — of $750,000 in funding from Cottage Communities.
Indian Mound Neighborhood Association president Jimmy Fitzner has been working with Boyer and reStart for about two years. He spoke about old photos that show housing once stood on the lots in this project and how difficult they are to replace.
“A neighborhood association can play many roles,” Fitzner said. “We can say no to stuff — many times. We have to look at the best interests of the residents here but when Stephanie came to us with this plan, we knew this would serve our neighborhood for good.”
Remarking that the association has waited a long time to brag about this project, he concluded, saying, “Let’s get started!”
Fitzner, Boyer, Cleaver, other representatives from reStart and construction representatives from Capital Builders all donned hard hats and grabbed a shovel for a ceremonial groundbreaking as the event concluded.
Designs by Trasko + Trasko show the lot at 412 Drury Ave., will have a side-by-side, two-story duplex, the lot at 5407 Smart Ave., a single-family home and the lot at 413 Hardesty Ave., a back-to-back duplex that will be ADA (American Disabilities Act) compliant. Boyer said she expects the duplex on Drury to be ready for occupancy by spring 2026.
These new-builds have been designed to blend with current housing that dates to the early 1900s.
With the mission to develop affordable housing, upStart LLC is a division of reStart, a service provider seeking to provide pathways to stable housing and leading the way to prevent and end homelessness in Kansas City, according to its website. Both organizations operate at 918 E. Ninth St.
Community Project Funding allocated by Congressman Cleaver is expected to cover one-quarter to one-half the costs to construct these five units. Additional funding of $500,000 from KCMO HOME Funds and Jackson County ARPA funding up to $750,000 is still pending.
Within the next 10 years, upStart plans to provide 100 affordable housing units; a combination of new builds and rehabilitated homes utilizing properties obtained from the City’s Land Bank program.
Land Bank of Kansas City acquires tax-delinquent and other distressed properties and transfers them to owners — businesses or individuals — that will improve and maintain them, including vacant housing and lots.
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