It was the worst of times, it was the best of times, it was COVID. A lot happened in 2020/2021 and one of the losses was the Port KC newsletter. We want to reintroduce Kansas City to what Port KC does and why we do it. Here you will find updates about our partnerships, Berkley Riverfront, MO River Murals, and our focus on economic development for our beloved city.  The refreshed newsletter will reside on PortKC.com. We resurrected our mailing list from years ago, so if you don’t want to be on it, please unsubscribe. We hope you’ll enjoy the front-row seat to Kansas City’s growth.  

Aladdin Wall Breaking

Most of Port KC’s economic development work includes new builds. We took on a different project in 2024, the rehabilitation of The Aladdin Hotel in Downtown KC, Molzer Development, Free Heel Capital, and Cardinal Crest teamed up to turn the iconic 100-year-old hotel into a new modern apartment building with amazing amenities. Since we didn’t need to break ground, the developers decided to break a wall to symbolize the start of something new in January. Port KC President and CEO Jon Stephens didn’t hesitate to swing a sledgehammer. It was one of our most memorable project starts.

Waterway Icon Retires

The newsletter’s resurgence focuses on 2025, but we had a major celebration for our Vice President of Multi-Module Logistics to close Q4 2024. We want to recognize Richard Grenville (center) for his 54 years of dedication to the safety, health, and growth of the world’s waterways. At 16, Richard started his career in Britain’s Merchant Marines. He met a beautiful American girl during his service leading him to the United States. A few decades and three other ports later, he landed in Kansas City. His 12 years of service to Port KC and the Missouri River capped off his career. Richard is a game-changer. He resurrected commerce on the river here in Kansas City. We miss him. We know he is enjoying retirement with his wife and two dogs, but we wanted to say Bon voyage in his honor one more time.

Parade Park

Kansas City leaders are all in on a development expected to revitalize a neighborhood on the city’s historic east side. The multi-faceted housing and retail development of Parade Park will be built by Flaherty & Collins. This project not only has the full backing of the city, which is close to passing an additional $300 million in support of the project, but Port KC will take the title of the project to help keep costs down during the building phases and will coordinate the return of the project to Flaherty & Collins as the phases are completed. The housing opportunities will nearly double offering market-rate, low-income, and senior housing options alongside commercial and leasing opportunities.

400+ Volunteer Hours

The Port KC team kept busy in the community in 2024. Team members spent more than 400 hours helping groups like Arts KC, Community Assistance Council, Junior League, Synergy, Lead to Read, and Save, Inc. One of the most attended team events was planting more than 60 trees in Berkley Riverfront’s green space. Roughly 100 volunteers partnered with Bridging the Gap to dig, cut, trim, and cover the new foliage in November 2024. Let’s see what we can accomplish in 2025.

While we work individually with many groups, we rely on the help of Uncover KC to identify and focus our team goals.

📅  Upcoming Events

View a full calendar on the Events webpage.

• March 10: Port KC Board Meeting

• March 15: KC Current Home Opener

• April 14: Port KC Committee Meeting

• April 28: Port KC Board Meeting

📰  In the News

Recent celebrations.

• Origin Hotel grand opening

• Upcoming distribution center project

• BBC names KC a travel destination