KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis covers Kansas City, Missouri, including neighborhoods in the southern part of the city. She also focuses on issues regarding scams. Share your story idea with Megan.
—
The new, local owners who have taken over the former Cloverleaf Apartments in south Kansas City say they are ready to reinvest in the community and restore hundreds of housing units.
Colby Kirk and Aaron Ford say they have rehabbed hundreds of units across the metro and are self-funding the project.
"I know there's a stigma from what this property had for years, and we aim to change that very quickly," Kirk said. “We’re local guys, we’re not the typical out-of-state big-money developers. We’re self-funding this along with a local bank.”
The property, which was forced to shut down in 2025 due to unsafe living conditions under previous out-of-state ownership, consists of 17 buildings with 12 units each.
The plan is to modernize every unit under the new name, The Enclave South. The property will not be HUD-designated housing.
"Clean, affordable, modern-updated kitchens, updated bathrooms," Kirk said.
Kirk and Ford won't be demolishing the buildings. They say the structural bones of the buildings from the 1970s are solid enough, and they want to keep the rental unit prices under $2,000.
"Kansas City doesn't need another vacant apartment complex," Ford said. "What KC needs is quality housing for the working class."
Kirk said "a good deal of money" will be put into modernizing the units, with the pair promising they won't be "cutting corners."
"We're going to do whatever it takes to get it back up to running to be safe, affordable and modernized," he said.
Kirk described the vision for the finished community.
"It's going to be night and day. We're not coming in here to be the slumlord type of ownership. We come in, beautify, make the community safe," Kirk said. "We're going to modernize everything in the unit. Updated kitchen, updated bathrooms, flooring, paint, the exteriors beautiful, a playground, potentially a dog park and a thriving community that's 100% different than it used to be."
Kirk also pointed to the location as an asset for prospective residents.
"Somebody that wants to live in a thriving community, we got 6,000–7,000 jobs behind us in this development corridor behind us," Kirk said. "It's a great place to live if you have a job that's out here at Amazon, the KC National Security Campus."
Security is also a priority for the new owners. Kirk said the community will have staff on site 24/7 and some form of gate system to restrict unauthorized access.
“We aim to have a very secure community here, staff on site 24/7," he said. "We’ll also have some sort of gate system so a random person can’t access the community and go unnoticed."
Both Kirk and Ford are Kansas City natives. Kirk said his roots in the city drove his decision to take on the project.
"I'm a Kansas City guy, I grew up in KCMO schools, lived a good part of my life in the urban core on the east side of KC by the stadiums," Kirk said. "I just saw a need for housing in the community, and I'm also an investor. ... I think this is a great project to bring back 200 homes to south Kansas City."
Ford echoed that local connection.
"Born and raised in Kansas City, really just a country boy, ex-construction guy, super excited about this deal," Ford said.
The owners say they are aware the property's history is a hurdle, but they are asking the community to judge them by their work.
"The stigma behind this property has been pretty intense," Ford said. "What we would like to do is earn the community's confidence by what we do in the next few months. We know when you drive by this in the next three months, it won't look the same."
Kirk said he has a simple benchmark for success.
"When I see kids out here playing in the playground, I think that will be the telling point that it's successful," Kirk said.
The apartments already have a waitlist. The first units are expected to be available this fall, but Kirk and Ford expect an 18-month project.
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.
—
