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Another round of Kansas City-area development projects will receive funding through the Kansas Building a Stronger Economy (BASE) program.
The highly anticipated Rock Island Bridge renovation in Kansas City, Kansas, will take home of the most grant funding in the metro area. Its developer, Flying Truss LLC, received $4 million.
The redevelopment will include 11,000 square feet of entertainment space with a food hall, bars, coffee shops, a lower-deck event space, seating for more than 250, office and merchandising space, and walkways for pedestrians and dismounted bikers.
The state's BASE grant program is aimed at:
- infrastructure investments associated with economic development projects, including new business parks
- development of infrastructure required to support business expansions
- renovation of existing business parks
- development of infrastructure such as railroad spurs, water, wastewater, stormwater and other utilities
- driveway aprons
- business park signage
- parking facilities directly associated with business attraction projects
- speculative industrial office and residential space
- development of infrastructure-related to cybersecurity investments
- other projects that achieve the goal of expanding the state's base of businesses and residents
In total, seven Kansas City-area applicants received a combination of more than $11 million. Here's a quick look at the others:
- Olathe Chamber of Commerce (Johnson County): $2 million for Downtown Olathe Workforce Housing Development Project
- Midwest Bioscience Research Park (Wyandotte County): $1.5 million for Midwest Bioscience Research Park Renovation and Modernization
- Black MasterMind Group (Wyandotte County): $1.4 million for the Gateway Plaza Building
- Leavenworth County: $1.3 million for Lansing Sewer Extension K-7 and McIntyre Road
- KC The Yards 2 LLC (Wyandotte County): $800,000 for The Helm
- City of Leavenworth (Leavenworth County): $56,250 for Leavenworth Business and Technology Park Improvements
Last year, eight local applicants received a combination of more than $39 million.
This year's round of funding totaled $50 million, according to a release. Applicants from last year's round were eligible to be awarded grants this year without reapplying.
This year's round followed the same regulations established for the first round, including a minimum 25% applicant match requirement.
The BASE program is through the Kansas Department of Commerce.