KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The man who transformed an entire city block of Kansas City, Missouri’s urban core into a park with a golf course now plans to build housing.
Last week, crews began removing trees and brush from empty, overgrown lots surrounding Harris Park Midtown Sports and Activity Center near East 40th Street and Wayne Avenue.
Harris plans to build eight triplex apartment buildings in the neighborhood. Ultimately, Harris wants to create a rent-to-own program for tenants to learn about homeownership, credit and find an affordable place to call their own.
“We’re making this a program to educate our community, bring people into our community and make things affordable,” Harris said.
Harris and his team of investors plan to break ground on the first triplex building in spring 2023. They do not anticipate asking the city for any property tax breaks — a practice that has gained popularity despite criticism from the Kansas City Public School District, which relies on property taxes for part of its revenue.
“This is a message to the schools, Kansas City School District, you do have a little help out here, people pulling for you and people developing land for the kids to come into our community, for you to make a little bit of money and make things better for our schools,” explained Harris, a KCPS graduate.
Harris sees housing as the next step in a decades-long mission to beautify Kansas City’s east side.
“Let’s change that mindset about our community,” he said. “We always heard about people talking about east of Troost, and we want you to continue talking about east of Troost, but we want to talk about it in a different way. We want to talk about it that it’s beautiful, beautiful green space, new houses are going up.”
