Port KC is preparing Berkley Riverfront for future development of a use it doesn’t yet offer.
The Port Authority of Kansas City has requested rezoning that would allow for a hotel, even though the agency has no specific project in mind, spokeswoman Mariah Shields told the Kansas City Business Journal on Wednesday.
A hotel was always part of the Berkley Riverfront vision — there are none there or in the nearby River Market — but the use wasn’t included in the original master plan. This action would correct that.
The riverfront has changed dramatically in the past several years, with the additions of apartment complex Union Berkley Riverfront, Bar K (a dog park bar) and another apartment complex in the works from NorthPoint Development that will include an affordable component.
Beyond those announced plans, at least one other project looms: An unknown developer plans two 10-story tower projects that could include retail, office and a parking garage. Port KC has been mum about the plan since the fall.
All of those developments would be boosted by a proposed streetcar extension into Berkley Riverfront that would connect it with the existing 2.2-mile line from River Market to Union Station, as well as the proposed extension south to the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus.
The action to rezone was on the docket for Tuesday’s City Plan Commission meeting, but action was continued to March because of delays in required public meetings about the project.