Downtown Liberty's decade-old empty lot will be filled by $7.5 million mixed-use development

LIBERTY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland, including Liberty. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.

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A downtown Liberty lot, vacant for nearly a decade, is getting new life with a $7.5 million mixed-use development project underway.

Star Development plans to bring lofts to the upper floors and commercial spaces to the ground level of the buildings. The company also plans a restaurant patio area on the corner.

Construction crews are working on underground utilities before pouring foundations. That work is expected to begin in late September or early October, according to the developers.

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Matthew Iway works at Star Development and is the project manager.

Iwat was in high school when the building collapsed in May 2016, and he remembers that day.

"Coming down here, riding my bike, and seeing that there's no building here anymore, it was like, 'Wow, what's going on?'," Iway said.

Iway said the project has required careful work to preserve the area's historical character, which contributed to missing an earlier March deadline. Crews have also been working to reuse existing underground infrastructure where possible, Iway said.

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"Realistically, this is about as many surprises as we can get is in this dirt right here — because we don't know," he said. "It's been 10 years since this has last been touched and before then, about 100 years since anything has been built in here."

The project is anticipated to be complete by the end of August 2027.

"I hope people won't remember the giant hole that was here for about a decade," Iway said.

Nearby business owners say they have been waiting years for the empty lot to be filled.

Cari Brogden, owner of the Copper Canary gift shop, said she has already heard from customers about the long-vacant space.

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"We had one really big eyesore," Brogden said.

Brogden said the development factored into her own business plans. She is expanding the Copper Canary from a gift store to also include a coffee shop.

"We knew of the housing development and the mixed-use project that's coming. We thought we would go ahead and take that leap of faith, and we are actually expanding," Brogden said.

Brogden said she believes the added residents and businesses will benefit the entire square.

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"Having more people who actually live here on the square, more businesses that can actually move in, this will just continue to bring more people."

She said seeing construction progress for the first time made an impression.

"I cannot tell you how excited we all are," Brogden said.

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Laci Waters, who works at the nearby Catfish + Tater Boutique, echoed that enthusiasm.

"It's really nice that the square will finally be complete again."

Waters said the empty lot has long felt like something was missing from the neighborhood.

"I think we're just excited to have a new friend across the way to look at."

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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