What areas of KC are developing most??

[Frank Occhiogrosso]

Hi all, 

To anyone active in the KCMO real estate market, what areas would you say look the most promising in terms of new development? Which neighborhoods are receiving the most outside investment, and which will have the highest demand from tenants in the coming 2-3 years? I am curious to see everyone's thoughts on this. Thanks in advance!

[Lee Ripma]

@Frank Occhiogrosso

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

When you say developing do you mean in terms of renter demand or in terms of new construction? New construction is mostly going to be in A areas. Renter demand outside of new construction is going to be in good school districts for larger units (attract families) and walkable areas with a lot going on (attract young people). Then there are folks simply seeking safe affordable areas. Checkout the link above for my thoughts on areas of KC. 

[Frank Occhiogrosso]

Thank you so much for the reply! I have been doing a lot of my own research but it's super helpful to see a comprehensive guide to KC like the one you've put together. 

[Helio Dor]

Downtown is growing at a super fast pace in anticipation of the 2026 world cup, but most locals and the less than millionaire status investors are priced out already because our market doubled and tripled before covid, again during covid, and isn't coming back down.  The way gentrification is working is the people the east areas of downtown, which were formerly bad areas, are moving more and more east towards unincorporated Jackson County due to gentrification and the city putting more section 8 housing contracts more and more outside of downtown. So basically, if you want to invest your best growing areas are on the fringes of the city where you may still be able to get a decent deal and hope for some 10-15 year out major appreciation.  Downtown a lot of the rents and areas have already sky rocketed or have already been gentrified, are being gentrified, and there is some community sentiment issues because low income households feel they are being pushed out of where they lived for years and years. Example: Rent was 595$ a mo in 2013 and the same complex was renting for 1200$ in 2020 and then they built new condos  in 2022 worth 2500-10000$ rent (yes I do mean 10,000$) all in the same neighborhood. Wages have been stagnant, so. This isn't a complaint, I just thought you could use the tip if you take a step back on focusing on real estate and focus on sort of the economic factors of an area it can help. You can see how/where people are moving and why it is growing. This all hinges on the city not losing funding and regressing it's gentrification projects, though. If they stopped pouring millions into new developments as a city we'd be SOL. 

ALSO--to add--if you are from out of state this can be a difficult market because for example: Kansas school districts are regarded a great. MO school districts are regarded as less great. MO has less jobs. A lot of people from MO drive to KS for a job. KCMO lost school accreditation years ago (and I don't think has it back) so this makes families move to other school districts. Prairie Village listed above is one of the "richest", nicest areas, so... do some due diligence on the school systems and things if you want to do SFH or MFH and you are marketing to young families.

[Alex Olson]

The great thing about KC is that you can throw a dart in about any area of the metro and hit a good investment location. It is a rare city that is truly about what the investor wants and is looking for. Suburban? Check. Class A? Check. Urban Core? Check. Major development? Check. New sports stadiums? Check. New airport? Check. The list goes on and all of these are in different parts of the city and have sparked additional housing developments etc...

[Brandon Rabe]

I've been in KCMO for a few years now. I typically stay north of the river and outskirts of urban core.

[Alex Olson]

@Brandon Rabe Both are great locations!