From the ground and from the air, Kansas City's landscape and skyline are a work in progress.
"With the charter schools becoming better, all the stuff that is coming down here, the streetcar - every time I come down here, I am amazed about what's going on," said Tanya Fortman.
That means business is good for real estate brokers like Fortman, whose been in the business for the past 10 years.
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"Rentals are in high demand. As soon as you list something it's rented out," she said.
She says for the first time since the housing collapse, there's a renewed interest in moving downtown. While it's mostly rentals right now, she expects condos and homes to hit the market soon.
"In 2004, that was the bubble," she explained. "A bunch of condos were built, it was oversaturated and then the market crashed in 2006. A lot of condos sat for a long time. But now with everything happening down here, stuff is moving again. However, they are putting up a ton of rentals everywhere, which I don't really understand because the price it costs to rent right now."
Case in point - those luxury towers cropping up. Rent for two bedrooms can cost up to $2,000 a month. Fortman said for the person looking to stay put for at least a few years, buying may be a better way to go financially in both the short- and long-term.
"You can buy a two-bedroom condo that is twice as big and pay a lot less monthly. It makes sense to buy rather than rent because mortgage rates are so low," she said.
For example, one of Fortman's properties is a one-bedroom in the Western Auto building. A mortgage on that unit would cost below $900 per month. An apartment with those same specs could rent for $1,200 or more.
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Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.
