3D Development seeks new apartment builder for prime Crossroads Arts District site
3D Development is pursuing a new development partner to take over the central apartment component of its Freight House Village plan in the Crossroads Arts District after a previous builder’s proposal fell through.
3D recently listed a 1.06-acre property that includes surface parking and a commercial structure at 2001 Walnut St. for sale through Cushman & Wakefield’s Kansas City office. The site carries 2022 rezoning and preliminary plan approvals for a seven-story, 246-apartment complex, plus an incentive package approved in 2021 through the city’s Planned Industrial Expansion Authority. The property’s asking price is $5.54 million.
This map shows 3D Development’s 1.06-acre property listed for sale at 2001 Walnut St. through Cushman & Wakefield’s Kansas City office.
The apartments initially were to be built by Lux Living, but the St. Louis developer failed to close on the project site on four different dates earlier this year, according to subsequent lawsuit filings between Lux and 3D. In May, Lux Lux sought a court order compelling 3D to sell it the site, whereas 3D asked for a declaratory judgment affirming that it had validly terminated its contract with Lux. The parties agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice in late August.
Now, 2001 Walnut represents a rare multifamily project site in the Crossroads, with PIEA incentives that include a 15-year property tax abatement at 75% for 10 years and 37.5% for the following five, plus a sales tax exemption on construction materials. Listing materials note that future apartments would not have to meet Kansas City’s affordable housing mandate for incentive-receiving projects — often cited by developers as an impediment to projects’ financial feasibility — based on when the tax breaks were approved.
“It’s over an acre, 46,000 square feet of land, which is really hard to find anywhere close to the streetcar, especially in the Crossroads, and (3D founder) Vince Bryant has done a lot of the upfront heavy lifting by getting the zoning in place and the incentives teed up,” said Gib Kerr, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield and broker for the property alongside the firm’s Leonard Popplewell. “It’s a prime development site within walking distance of not just the streetcar, but some of the top restaurants in Kansas City and the entertainment district of the East Crossroads, which is really getting to be a big deal.”
A 230-apartment complex at 2001 Walnut was part of an $87.7 million Freight House Village plan 3D shared in 2021. The plan included 12 walk-up and row house dwellings among the residences, plus the renovation of two former Superior Moving & Storage buildings across the street with 75,000 square feet of historic offices, as the Superior Office Lofts.
The apartments and offices are part of 3D’s broader Freight House Development District, within which Indianapolis-based Milhaus is under construction on a different multifamily project — Via, a $52 million, 193-apartment complex at 311 W. 22nd St., west of Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue.
Another 3D mixed-use proposal, The Podium, is southwest of the Freight House Village on land that includes surface parking behind the Belger Arts Center.
Original Freight House master plans reflected The Podium as an 18-story office building with at least 250,000 square feet of Class A office, connected via shared amenity space to a nine-story, 120-room boutique hotel. A current listing, also through Cushman & Wakefield, now highlights up to 160,000 office square feet within the project, along with available incentives for possible hotel or apartment components, for potential occupancy in 2027.
