News

$1.6M grant will create incubator for low-income, minority entrepreneurs

By Tommy Felts / October 19, 2017

A large federal grant will help reanimate an older industrial building in Kansas City to serve as a small business incubator. The U.S. Economic Development Administration recently awarded a $1.6 million grant to the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri. The Kansas City organization said that the grant should create about 90 new…

Kauffman report: KC ranks 28 out of 40 in entrepreneurial growth

By Tommy Felts / October 19, 2017

Fewer Kansas City companies are growing to become medium- or large-sized firms, according to a report released Thursday by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. It’s a common story across the U.S., as the nation rebounds from the slump of the Great Recession, the report says. The 2017 Kauffman Index of Growth Entrepreneurship report suggests the…

Housing trends show young professionals don’t care about Troost’s stigma, UC-B says

By Tommy Felts / October 18, 2017

Lance Carlton initially was skeptical of developing east of Troost Avenue, he said. “But the mentality of the market has changed,” said Carlton, co-managing partner of UC-B Properties, which brought its offices to the 4300 block of Troost in August 2016. The company helped prove an appetite for residential development on the corridor with 19…

Mac Properties plans four-corner food startup village at Armour and Troost

By Tommy Felts / October 18, 2017

Mac Properties’ Kansas City arm wants to turn a “sleepy intersection” on Troost into a four-corner incubator for thriving residential and restaurant activity. The vision is to create a “food startup village” as the foundation of the development, which would bring 400 new market rate apartments to Armour Boulevard and Troost, said Peter Cassel, director…

Wonder developers eye emerging businesses and creatives for Troost

By Tommy Felts / October 18, 2017

Business is brewing at the former Wonder Bread bakery. With a flurry of activity at 30th and Troost, the historic site is undergoing a transformation: from yet another vacant space on the corridor to an anchor for residential and commercial life on Troost. “They’ve gutted the inside and they’ve done a ton of work,” said…