Kansas City's major plan to connect communities downtown
Right now, there's a major push in Kansas City, Missouri to expand downtown now with apartment buildings or restaurants, but green space. Check this out. This is the plan for what's called the South Loop, the stretch of I-670 running through the heart of KC. The idea is to cover the highway with a 5.5 acre park connecting downtown to the convention center and the crossroads. The project would be a public-private partnership. And we learned last week some $45 million has been raised to get this done through contributions from big KC companies like H&R Block along with federal funding.
In all, project leaders believe the whole effort will cost them $200 million. Mayor Quinton Lucas says taking back this space and connecting all of these neighborhoods is key. We really want to make sure that as we look at that next generation and phase of how we develop Kansas City, it's about connecting communities and in some cases, reconnecting communities. How do we cure perhaps what we've done in the past to divide areas like the east side or to split downtown? We're addressing that now and I think this will be an outstanding change for our community. Now, the timeline for all of this is aggressive. Organizers want this all wrapped up before FIFA World Cup matches come to town in 2026. So, time's a-wasting.
Here to discuss the push to get this done and the potential impact, please welcome Brian Platt, Kansas City City Manager. Thank you for coming on the show for the first time. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, let's dive right in. Is this going to happen by 2026 and just logistically, what would need to happen to get every piece in place for this? This is a project that's been years, decades, in the making and we're finally taking some steps forward. We've got a company hired to do the design work. That process is underway.
Obviously, as you just said, we're fundraising already. We've got enough money to start the first of what will be four sections. The way it's going to work, it's not just one big park. The bridges, the streets that are there now will stay and in between space, we filled in with new park space. I see. So, it's not necessarily a tunnel project, so to speak. You're just filling in the gaps.
Yeah. And funding, as you mentioned, is a key component, right? This is a public-private partnership. You're at 45 million right now, which, as you said, gets the ball rolling, but you still have quite a bit to get to the 200 million. So, how do you get to 200 and how much of this will taxpayers have to shoulder? At this point, we've got zero local taxpayer dollars invested in this project. We hope to be around that amount. We're trying to leverage the partnerships and funding opportunities that we've got at the federal level, the state level, and also for our local corporations and businesses that are so heavily invested in this city. And you've seen many of them already kind of step up to the play here, right? Yeah.
H&R Block is the least most recent announcement that we made $10 million from H&R Block. They are such good partners to us and to our city, and we hope that more of those will follow. The goal is for no taxpayer money, right, to go into this, but realistically, do you think that's going to happen? There's a possibility. Look, it's a big project. $200 million is a huge number, and there's probably going to be some amount that we're going to put into it at some point, but we're going to try and move as far as we can without doing that. We heard Mayor Lucas a little while ago discuss this project as kind of a way to bridge the gap, right? We're going to try to reconnect neighborhoods. I also imagine it gives you another venue for big events coming to town, and not just the World Cup, but beyond them.
This will be a destination, a gathering space, an attraction for people to come from all over the city and the region to hang out and experience what Kansas City really is, but also think about the economic potential that it unlocks. There's areas around there that are limited just because of being next to a highway. If you're next to a world-class park that makes your property valuable, it makes the potential and the things that people will build so much bigger. In this green space in between the bridges here, what is your plan? What would you like to see other than just grass and trees? Yeah, just passive areas for people that hang out and gather and just get away from the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life. As you mentioned before, event space. We're working on planning programmable areas that people can have their own events, private events, maybe outdoor concerts, and then food and playgrounds and all the things that make a city what it is. Now, this is just part of the big downtown Kansas City strategic plan.
What other projects are in the works? Well, you know, we just opened the new airport. I mean, yes, it's not in downtown, but it does really help our downtown. We've got a handful of new development projects, high-rise buildings that we're working on and talking about now. Barney, Alice Plaza, the parking garage there. There's another project at 12th and Broadway on the other side of the convention center. These could be high-rise buildings, new parking, new amenities, new parks, all those types of things. Last question here.
How involved is the public going to be in what is built in this area? We're hoping the public will be very involved in this. We've got a series of public meetings where people can voice their feedback and their concerns and things they want to see in this location. The website for more information about that is kcsouthloopproject.org. There's an upcoming public meeting this week, actually. To be able to actually just follow the progress, too. Exactly, yeah.
All right. Well, City Manager Brian Platt, thank you so much for your time. Let's talk about that first open house on the future of the South Loop. It's just in two days. There's an event Tuesday evening from 4.30 to 6.30 at the Kirk Family YMCA, the old lyric, old home of KMBC 9, 11th and Central.
We'll be keeping an eye on the project, which organizers hope to start early next year.
Cody Holyoke, Crossroads, Heart of the Matter, I-670, Kansas City, South Loop Project, city manager, communities, connect, downtown, green space, infrastructure, park, project