To revamp Kansas City metro’s historic center of Black culture, residents needed people they could trust.
One of them was Kelvin Simmons, a Kansas City native and former two-term K.C. city councilor.
“We have had to integrate the new with the legacy and ensure that the people who are part of the legacy are part of what’s new,” Simmons said of the 18th and Vine District. “For about 30 years or so, almost nothing took place there.
“There was a lack of investment, no private investment ... I had to convince people who were in the neighborhood that people weren’t going to just come in and take over and at the same time, it wasn’t going to be gentrified because that is a very big issue. We had to continue to keep the character. We had to continue to keep the culture that is still very much a part of the 18th and Vine District.”
The result of those intentions is “Revive the Vine,” roughly a $450 million project designed to restore cultural landmarks, expand housing and boost walkability in the 18th and Vine District, which like Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Simmons, chair of The Vine Street Community Improvement District, shared details of that project this week at the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Intercity Visit in Kansas City. He was part of a panel discussion that included Josh Goldman, managing director of Palmer Square Capital; Chris Harren, senior vice president of development at Gillon Property Group, and Jon Stephens, president and CEO of Port K.C.
A big slice of “Revive the Vine” is the $330 million Parade Park redevelopment, which aims to rebuild a Black-owned housing cooperative with 1,100 new units. Ground was broken on the initiative in 2025.
“We’ve shown them how to continue to be authentic and how to have equity ownership, how to have Black ownership,” Simmons said. “But we also have to have investment that doesn’t always look like us, either.
“We give 18th and Vine to the world, and the world comes back to us. We don’t keep it so confined that we don’t see the opportunity for investment to come in and make it better.”
The historic neighborhood’s reimagining is just one example of how Kansas City has begun to think on a larger scale. Others are the $1.5 billion airport expansion, the installation of a streetcar system and a stadium dedicated to a women’s professional soccer team.
“Historically, this city has taken a great step forward every 35 years like clockwork,” he said. “Then we get scared of our own shadow and we stop. We go back and say, ‘Maybe we’ve done too much.’
“I think we’re over that because of a lot of these successes. A 33-story office tower (Encore on Broadway project) in downtown? Ten years ago, people would have said, ‘Good luck with that. This isn’t Austin. Have a nice day.’ Then, they would have dismissed it. Now, it’s like, when is it breaking ground?”
This article covered programming from the Tulsa Regional Chamber Intercity Visit to Kansas City, Mo. Each fall, the Chamber leads a three-day Intercity Visit during which leaders gain peer insights on best practices, potential opportunities and navigated challenges. Topics often include development, infrastructure and workforce.