‘First-of-its-kind’ AltCap investment pool aims to transform Kansas City’s urban blight
August 27, 2018 | Startland News Staff
With more than 5,000 blighted homes and vacant lots, Kansas City’s urban core might soon see some help thanks to new AltCap investment pool.
AltCap, a Kansas City-based community development financial institution, has partnered with Legal Aid of Western Missouri and Stinson Leonard Street to create a fund that’s focused on rehabilitation of housing in Kansas City’s urban core. The effort already has raised $305,000 from local investors and the First Federal Bank of Kansas City.
The “first-of-its-kind partnership” will provide title clearing services and loans to rehabbers restoring abandoned homes in the urban core, said AltCap president Ruben Alonso III. AltCap will manage the funds, underwriting and services loans to rehabbers that are working in partnership with neighborhood associations, he added.
“The short-term loans will be used to hire laborers, contractors, plumbers, electricians and other construction trades, creating local jobs and supporting economic activity, while revitalizing homes and neighborhoods in the urban core,” he said.
Abandoned homes often attract crime, reduce property values and diminish the quality of life for people who live in the area, AltCap said. The KC Social Investment Pool helps revitalize urban core neighborhoods by providing the funding to allow rehabbers to turn blighted properties into quality homes for working, low-income families.
The 29 neighborhoods that are eligible for the program include:
- Scarritt
- Indian Mound
- Lykins
- Independence Plaza
- East 23rd St. PAC
- Blue Valley
- Sheffield
- Washington Wheatley
- Key Coalition
- Santa Fe
- Mount Hope
- Boston Heights
- Ivanhoe
- Oak Park
- Palestine
- Vineyard
- 49/63
- Blue Hills
- Town Fork Creek
- Mt. Cleveland
- Swope Parkway / Elmwood
- Marlborough East
- Marlborough West
- Tri-Blenheim
- Neighborhoods United for Action (NUFA)
- Ruskin
- Forgotten Homes
- Manheim Park
For those interested in learning more, AltCap and Legal Aid are hosting a workshop at 11:30 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 13 at the Seton Center, 2816 E. 23rd St., Kansas City, MO 64127. Additional information is available at www.alt-cap.org/home-rehab or by contacting Davin Gordon, AltCap business development officer at davin@alt-cap.org
Featured Business
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Kansas City jazz swings harder: How KU is building on the city’s historic musical legacy
Editor’s note: This article was written for a class at the University of Kansas’ William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications and distributed through the Kansas Press Association. Icons like Charlie Parker and Count Basie define Kansas City’s jazz legacy. But today’s contemporary artists — such as Blue Noyes and Nic Weaver —…
Northeast Pizza shop bakes KC’s most accessible food into a new restaurant for all, owner says
Rising from a family of restaurateurs, Noah Quillec is striking out on his own — with the help of some culinary friends — to bring a new pizzeria to Kansas City’s Northeast; it’s a move he hopes will bring unity by the slice. “This neighborhood is very accessible, so diverse and so all over the…
Best-selling tea towel maker’s business model hangs by this thread: ‘the more I give back, the more I’ll succeed’
Elene Banks, founder of Kansas City-based Absorb-Lumen, turned her boutique clothing store into a mission-driven business that puts eco-friendly kitchen essentials in the spotlight, all while giving back to the community through a charitable business model. “It was a happy accident,” Banks said, “We started a boutique online and tried to carry tea towels from…
Developers plan to transform historic UMKC building into boutique hotel, spa
Editor’s note: This story was originally published by the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Click here to view the original article. A local group comprised of Sunflower Development Group and hospitality veteran Jen Gulvik has secured permission to proceed with a historic redevelopment project involving one of Kansas City’s most beloved assets: the Epperson House at…