It may only be April, but single mom Cynthia Brown is already thinking about the holidays.
“The barbecues, the Christmas, the Thanksgiving, sometimes you do take those for granted,” Brown said. “I'm excited because I haven't been able to do that. For me to do it in my own home, a luxury home, and to enjoy it - that's exciting.”
She and her 11-year-old son are the first residents to move into a neighborhood of brand new duplexes.
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“The palette, just the white walls and everything new,” said Brown. “I had ideas of what I was going to do, how I was going to do it...just knowing that I have a clean palette.”
And it's not just a clean palette for Brown and her son; it could represent a new start for the whole area. This development is a first for 38th and Cypress on the east side of Troost Avenue.
“This went from crime and drugs and trash to what you see now," said Kansas City dentist Zavon Kanion. He and his wife Jacqueline spearheaded the $9 million investment.
It consists of 13 duplex units and one four-plex. Once the project is complete, 30 low-income families will have a new place to call home.
“We are so happy that this has been transformed into affordable, nice housing that the residents in this area can live in," Kanion said.
This is the first phase of the development. The Kanions hope to extend the neighborhood further to the south and to the west to include more similar housing.
The groundbreaking celebration will be May 5 at 10:30 a.m.
Interested in becoming a tenant? Give Jacqueline Kanion a call at 816-924-2121.
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Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.
