New Development plans for a US$ 120M Northeast Lofts housing project have been announced by the developer Jonathan Arnold in Kansas City, Missouri. This is an affordable housing project which is intended to transform the historic National Cloak building located at 5401 Independence Ave., into a 352 apartment building.
The 650,000-square-foot National Cloak building, which is almost a century old, was once the location of the largest mail-order apparel business in the eastern part of the United States. This massive historic building comprises about 14 acres of useful surface to be used for the new Northeast Lofts housing project.Â
The Northeast Lofts housing project will provide affordable housing for families with wages that are up to 60% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI) and the developer plans to make this ageing 12-story structure, match the designs and standards used for the Second and Delaware project which was completed about a year ago.
Jonathan Arnold’s description of the project
Arnold mentioned that the Northeast Lofts project was just as promising as the Second and Delaware project, which was designed to be highly energy-efficient and attractive to selective tenants interested in paying for premium rents in the River Market. He pointed out that the new housing project would be quite similar, although it’s targeted at a different clientele, and the passive building efficiency features planned for the project would serve in reducing the building’s energy consumption by about 70-90% compared to conventional apartment projects.
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Arnold gave more details on the development plans for the Northeast Lofts project, which will feature landscaped courtyards, a rooftop garden, and housing units ranging between three- to four-bedroom units and these units could also double as work-live spaces. In addition, a food hall would also be made available to local vendors as well.
Funding and Investors listed for the Northeast Lofts housing project
Historical federal and state tax credits worth about $36 million are already lined up for the Northeast Lofts project. The developer is also gunning for $56.3 million in permanent financing and intends to apply for tax incentives from the PIEA (Planned Industrial Expansion Authority). The structure was declared bankrupt by the PIEA as the first in the process.
Investors listed by the developer for the Northeast Lofts project, include a housing subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway owned by Warren Buffett, an Omaha-based billionaire; Yarco Property Management and Commerce Bank. The contractor in charge of this project is Crossman Construction, the builder of Second and Delaware. Construction is scheduled to commence by the year’s end, with its delivery date set for 2024.
