A new luxury apartment complex in River Market is now under construction, and developers said it's all thanks to the streetcar.
On the one-month anniversary of the KC Streetcar, community leaders broke ground at 531 Grand Street at the corner of Grand Boulevard and Missouri Avenue.
"It's taking advantage of the new streetcar system. It's close, you have the ability now to get from this site without leaving your car and going all the way down to Crown Center and that," said Kenneth G. Block, managing principal at Block Real Estate Services.
The developers' plan includes 10,000 square feet of retail space, 140 luxury apartments on five floors, a two-story parking garage and amenities like an outdoor pool.
"We really look at locations. It's important to have a great location so that you have the other amenities when you want to leave the site if you want to leave the site," Block said.
Construction is booming in River Market as 1,000 people are expected to move into the area in the next couple years.
"So when you when find a site like this that has all the benefits that we're already seeing downtown and you have benefit of the streetcar and you have benefit of the downtown skyline and you have the great access, I mean, it's making sense, that's really hard to deny," Block said.
Construction at 531 Grand is expected to be completed by December 2017.
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Andres Gutierrez can be reached at andres.gutierrez@kshb.com
