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Partnership turns former City Hall into efficient living space
After more than 30 years of sitting vacant in downtown Kansas City, Kan., the old City Hall building is about to get a new lease on life as trendy—and energy-efficient—loft apartments. The non-profit community development corporation City Vision Ministries formed a development partnership with Bank of America and Kansas City Board of Public Utilities to restore the historic building and provide affordable, mixed-income housing in downtown Kansas City. “BPU shares City Vision’s commitment to the community and concern about our inner city,” said George Powell, the municipal utility’s economic development and retail services director. The partnership spent two years putting together a $7.5 million financing package that included Federal and state historic and housing tax credits. BPU is contributing incentives and electricity-saving expertise to the renovation project. Building combines historic architecture, modern efficiency Ground broke on construction in May 2004, and pre-leasing began last month. The top-level apartments should be ready for occupants in May or June, with the entire renovation completed by August. When completed, the 42 loft apartments will retain most of the 1930s-era architectural and decorative features of the original building, like hardwood flooring and ornamental plaster. “BPU is excited to be part of this unique project rejuvenating the downtown KCK community,” stated Powell. To bring the historic building into the 21st century, BPU is putting in new electrical service and sub-metering to each unit. Each tenant will have an electric hot water and a high-efficiency, all electric heating and cooling system offering individual climate control to each apartment. Under BPU’s Builder Incentive Program, the project will receive rebates for installing split-system, add-on heat pumps in each unit. Other efficiency measures include new windows and increased insulation. “The structural upgrades and BPU’s electric heating program could save tenants as much as 60 to 70 percent on their heating and cooling costs compared to standard efficiency natural gas with electric cooling,” Powell noted. “That makes an attractive building even more appealing.” Incentive programs grow load Incentives for builders and developers have helped BPU, a summer-peaking utility, build its winter load while helping consumers keep electric bills down. Developer incentives provide allowances for underground electric distribution systems in subdivisions. The utility also provides a one-time promotional advertising allowance for grand opening celebrations for housing developments. Rebates for builders cover add-on heat pumps, electric hot water heaters and lot hook-up charges. There are also incentives for building all-electric apartments and installing all-electric kitchens in new homes. Builders and developers aren’t the only ones able to take advantage of BPU incentives. Residential customers may be eligible for rebates for retrofitting their homes with heat pumps. Businesses can receive incentives for converting from gas-and-electric to all-electric systems as the General Motors plant in Kansas City did by replacing a gas-driven turbine with an electric motor. In the last four years, incentives have helped drive the installation of 64 MW of electric heating in BPU’s service territory. “With the price of natural gas going up, electric rates are very competitive,” said Powell. “Super-efficient heating equipment makes it an even better deal. It’s good for our customers and good for the community.” Redevelopment creates new business opportunities BPU believes that supporting urban redevelopment is also good for the community. The old City Hall is only the latest collaboration between the utility and City Vision Ministry. In 2002, BPU worked with CVM to build Turtle Hill Townhomes, an energy-efficient town home development that increased home ownership in a rundown neighborhood by 25 percent. CVM plans to convert several vacant commercial buildings, including the former Kansas City Kansan newspaper building, into 300 loft units in the downtown district over the next five years. Distinctive, energy-efficient and centrally-located living spaces will attract new residents to the area, and those residents will create the need for additional new businesses. BPU welcomes the partnership opportunities, as General Manager E. Leon Daggett summed up in a press release on the City Hall project. “Partnership efforts to support urban area redevelopment bring continued growth and community improvements.” Those are words that any utility can live—and grow—by. |
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