Waldo residents question why KCATA gave tax breaks to a project without affordable housing

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
"Under a plan approved by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, the Waldo74Broadway project will receive a 75% tax exemption for 20 years. Local residents say they're frustrated about why the plan includes no units set aside as affordable.
Residents of Kansas City’s Waldo neighborhood may soon see changes along a popular commercial strip, where the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority has approved tax incentives for an apartment development at 74th Street and Broadway.

The six-story project, called Waldo74Broadway, is expected to contain 296 apartment units as well as a new location for The Well, a restaurant known for its rooftop dining area. As proposed, it will not set aside any units as affordable housing, and its developer, EPC Real Estate Group, will receive a 75% tax exemption for the project for 20 years.

The project will take up most of the city block bordered by Broadway to the west, Wyandotte Street to the east, 74th Street to the north and 74th Terrace to the south.

RideKC Development Corp. (RKCDC), the economic development arm of KCATA, is pursuing the apartment building as part of its plan to construct higher-density housing around transit nodes. At its Sept. 14 meeting, RKCDC approved the Waldo project as well as an apartment development at 31st Street and Gillham Road.

KCATA’s ability to issue bonds is outlined in the federal law that created the organization."...