By Paul Thompson

Northeast News

May 9, 2017

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Two recent U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) grants totaling $350,000 are aiming to help bring jobs and infrastructure to the Blue River Valley Corridor.

The Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri (EDCKC) won the grants, which were issued in two parts. The first $100,000 arrived in 2016, and was earmarked for an ongoing planning grant designed to develop an economic strategy for the Blue Valley area. That grant was matched by the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and the plan is expected to be released in September of 2017.

Greg Flisram, Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Development for EDCKC, said that the EDA grant focuses on an area between the mouth of the Blue River where it meets the Missouri River, down to the Municipal Farms property just south of Kauffman and Arrowhead Stadiums.

“The idea would be: how do we transform this area over time into a modern urban industrial park?” said Flisram. “I think we want to cast it into a bigger, more futuristic vision.”

The plan is also expected to include ideas for how the area can become more welcoming to the general public. Those answers could include the construction of more trail segments and the development of the area’s streetscapes. EDCKC wants to take advantage of recent infrastructure projects that have targeted the Blue River Valley Corridor.

“There’s a lot of stuff happening down in this valley that gets missed because its not real glamorous,” said Flisram. “There’s a recent $400 million flood control project that was completed down there.”

More recently, another $250,000 grant was awarded to EDCKC. This time, the funds were for the installation of water infrastructure in the Blue River Valley Corridor later this year. Flisram noted that the additional funding would be used to repair a failing water main near the site of the former Armco Steel facility.

“There are about 60 jobs that are looking to be added to the area. It’s really about maintaining the businesses that are already down there and helping them grow,” said Flisram. “They were having water interruption issues, and it was causing them issues. They couldn’t rely on the water being there. This would install a main directly into the sites that are being affected.”

Though Flisram acknowledged that the redevelopment of the Blue River Valley Corridor could take years to come to fruition, he said that he hopes the area can eventually create even more jobs for east side residents of Kansas City, Missouri.

“Historically, it was a jobs center for the east side. The idea would be to re-position this area to return it to what it once was,” said Flisram. “It’s got great access, great visibility, really solid infrastructure. The goal is to create jobs for neighborhood residents.”