Massive East Crossroads Mixed-Use Project

Developers hope to break ground by the end of the year on a mixed-use development that could be the largest built in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District after winning approval for tax incentives Thursday.

Milhaus Development, an Indianapolis-based firm, is planning to add 340 market-rate apartments, restaurants and commercial space across several new buildings southeast of 19th and Oak streets. The company also plans to rehabilitate an existing building on the site into a restaurant.

The Planned Industrial Expansion Authority approved a 75 percent tax abatement for 10 years and a 37.5 percent tax abatement for another 15 after that.

The first apartments are expected to open around the spring of 2020, according to John McGurk, a Milhuas developer based in Kansas City. The company expects to complete the first phase of the project that summer and has room on the site for a yet-to-be-conceived second phase.

Milhaus already has a presence in Kansas City with its Gallerie development near Crown Center and apartments on Troost Avenue it developed with Kansas City-based UC-B Properties.

For McGurk, the East Crossroads was attractive because of the local Kansas City aesthetic.

“I love the mix of kind of commercial, really unique to Kansas City, retailers,” McGurk said, noting the area boasts record stores, bars and popular restaurants, including Grinders and Mission Taco Joint.

McGurk said Milhaus likes to be the first company in cities’ “grittier, untested” markets.

“We like to kind of go in and be the first to the market in those types of areas and kind of put our flag in the ground and say, ‘We’re here and we love this area,’” McGurk said.

David Johnson, a member of the Crossroads Community Association Board, said in May the Milhaus project was the largest project planned in the area to date.