KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Perhaps it’s simply the price of progress, but some businesses are being priced out of the Crossroads Arts District as landlords pass along rent increases.
Brioche Pastry Shop at the corner of 20th and Main streets is among the shops impacted. It closed earlier this month and must finish moving out of the space by the end of Thursday.
“It was a really hard decision,” Brioche Pastry Shop owner Brandon Kelley said.
Brioche has been at the location for the past three years, but Kelley decided he couldn't afford the cost of a proposed new lease.
“The increase that was proposed to us was completely uncalled for what the market was calling for,” Kelley said.
The sticker shock came in the form of an increase of 20 to 30 percent from the current rent, he said.
“When you weighed everything that was out on the table, it made no sense for us to stay and it made us feel that they did not value us as tenants or as human beings,” Kelley said.
A couple doors down at Creative Mindz, owner Tylan Briscoe also said a rent increase will force them out.
“I feel like we’re getting pushed out as the little mom-and-pop shops for bIgger businesses to come because of all the amenities that are coming down here,” Briscoe said.
The building's owner, Ray Adams, told 41 Action News that property values are skyrocketing in the area, in part, because of the streetcar and other developments. That means a rent increase for tenants.
Of course, increasing costs and the changing face of the neighborhood isn't an entirely new concern. It's been a trend for the last few years.
“The fact that the property is worth more and more and the taxes are going up and all these kind of things is a huge concern, because all the good vibes and energy that we have down here is generated by smaller, creative type folks,” said Jeff Owens, who serves as vice president of the Crossroads Community Association.
Adams said he doesn’t think he’ll have a problem finding new tenants to fill the vacant locations.
Meanwhile, Brioche and Creative Mindz will try to find new locations in the Crossroads.
