How do you envision the area in ten years and how will you be able to tell if it's successful? How I envision the project in 10 years really stems from the process that we're instilling today, that this urban acupuncture, this strategic investment. The total costs for the Bancroft are just over 14 million dollars. The financial package that was structured so the project has no permanent debt—it doesn't require a burdensome mortgage payment. That in and of itself is a creative financial tool that will allow us to continually make sustainable investments by using this model and move it from the big idea to the project then to the surrounding neighborhood. The next step is thinking about how to handle housing and it's not a one-stop shop. We have housing that needs rehab and renovation and weatherization. Housing that needs to be deconstructed and recycled, and we have housing that needs to be built with new construction and a new identity. We hope those strategies paired with the strategic approach will help diminish the 30–40 percent vacancy rate. We've already seen a 27–28 percent reduction in crime. In 10 years, I'd like to see Manheim Park thriving and to have made strides to break down the perception barriers about the Troost Corrodor. That will be easy to notice first-hand when you see kids walking down the street in a safe neighborhood environment, folks using public transportation and neighborhood retail, and innovative housing clustered around this transit oriented development. That's what I hope we see in the next 5-10 years. Photo 6 of 7 in Kansas City Makes It Right by Diana Budds

Kansas City Makes It Right

6 of 7

How do you envision the area in ten years and how will you be able to tell if it's successful?

How I envision the project in 10 years really stems from the process that we're instilling today, that this urban acupuncture, this strategic investment. The total costs for the Bancroft are just over 14 million dollars. The financial package that was structured so the project has no permanent debt—it doesn't require a burdensome mortgage payment. That in and of itself is a creative financial tool that will allow us to continually make sustainable investments by using this model and move it from the big idea to the project then to the surrounding neighborhood. The next step is thinking about how to handle housing and it's not a one-stop shop. We have housing that needs rehab and renovation and weatherization. Housing that needs to be deconstructed and recycled, and we have housing that needs to be built with new construction and a new identity. We hope those strategies paired with the strategic approach will help diminish the 30–40 percent vacancy rate. We've already seen a 27–28 percent reduction in crime.

In 10 years, I'd like to see Manheim Park thriving and to have made strides to break down the perception barriers about the Troost Corrodor. That will be easy to notice first-hand when you see kids walking down the street in a safe neighborhood environment, folks using public transportation and neighborhood retail, and innovative housing clustered around this transit oriented development. That's what I hope we see in the next 5-10 years.