
Dorri Partain
Managing Editor
The Kansas City Fire Department’s (KCFD) Station 23 responded to a vacant structure fire reported at 6:55 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 19. This three-story wood frame apartment at 700-702-704 Olive Ave, is part of the Olive Park Village apartment and townhome complex. No injuries were reported.
In a statement released by KCFD Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins, this structure has suffered multiple fires dating back to May 2024 and as recent as December 2024.
In a search through the Kansas City Parcel Viewer website, the Northeast News discovered this address was declared a dangerous building on June 5, 2024 and subsequent reports to the 311 Action Center listed this address as open and/or operating as an unhoused encampment site. Prior to the initial fire, these addresses had numerous Healthy Homes rental inspection reports, along with other addresses located within this complex, which spans three blocks in the Independence Plaza neighborhood.
As stated in the Dangerous Building report from June, the building had sustained extensive damage to the roof and the north and east exterior walls. The first floor apartment was consumed throughout and its exterior stairways were deemed unsafe.

This 44-unit complex is owned and operated by The Millennia Companies, with a main office located in Cleveland, Ohio. According to the company’s web page, Millennia owns/operates more than 280 apartment developments in 26 states, housing 86,000 people. Its mission statement offers “Millennia’s development and management teams have preserved affordable housing and transformed communities.”
Equipment and crew were on-site on Thursday, Jan. 23, demolishing the burned structure. Crew members with Industrial Salvage & Wrecking stated they did not know when demolition began or if the property owner had requested the demolition but the City’s Communications Department was able to confirm that the property owner had contracted the demolition.

A call to the complex’s leasing office at 2310 E. Ninth St. was not answered at press time and The Millennia Company has not responded to any inquiries regarding Olive Park Village.