The Kansas City Business Journal’s Thomas Friestad joined KCUR's Up To Date for a roundup on all things development around the metro.
Published October 8, 2026 at 5:00 AM CDT
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Hoefer Welker
From downtown to the exurbs, Kansas City is experiencing a boom of large development projects.
Stadium storylines abound, including the Current’s riverfront stadium expansion and the construction of a Royals downtown ballpark. On the Kansas side of the state line, the Chiefs are preparing to build a massive domed stadium.
But the development doesn’t stop there: At 16th and Broadway in Kansas City, Missouri, a 29-floor apartment building and 15-floor hotel could soon become features of the skyline. The developers for the project, EPC Real Estate Group LLC and builder Dan Carr, recently submitted two-thirds of their master plan for the project.
“This is a development proposal that has some of the first large, new, luxury high rises outside of the Power and Light District,” Thomas Friestad, the commercial real estate and development reporter for the Kansas City Business Journal, told KCUR. “It's one of a handful in and around the greater downtown in different phases right now. And, you know, it could mean kind of a big transformation for those driving alongside it, for those going to events at the Kauffman Center.”
Friestad also said the $430 million project could feature a third tower.
“They are in discussions with a possible office user to go there, like a corporate office headquarters. And previous versions of the plan, alternatively, have shown additional apartments.”
Meanwhile, out in Gardner, Kansas, Velocity Arts LLC is looking to build a $1.5 billion, 335-acre entertainment district that would include a music education campus, an esports arena, a food hall and more.
Gardner’s city council has approved plans for the district, but the developers hope to secure public tax incentives like Sales Tax and Revenue, or STAR, bonds to help pay for it.
When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
As Up To Date’s senior producer, I want to pique the curiosity of Kansas Citians and help them understand the world around them. Each day, I construct conversations with our city’s most innovative visionaries and creatives, while striving to hold elected officials accountable and amplifying the voices of everyday Kansas Citians. Email me at zach@kcur.org.