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January 18, 2012
New Business Center/Contractor Incubator to Integrate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Blue Hills Community Services
Joanne Bussinger, Executive Director
(816) 333-7870, ext 220, jbussinger@bhcsmo.org
Kansas City, MO – Blue Hills Community Services has announced the investment of $3.1 million at 5008 Prospect, in Kansas City’s Third Council District, to repurpose an existing 14,168 square-foot building and integrate comprehensive green strategies. The renovated building will provide a center for green career development, training and business development for small business contractors, and serve as a focal point for community programs and services for surrounding neighborhood groups.
A community meeting for the public will be held to provide additional information on Wednesday, Jan 25, at 5:30 p.m. at the Kansas City Public Library, 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, Mo.
“This development will provide a catalyst for ongoing transformation of the Prospect Corridor and bridge existing residential development and community services in the neighborhoods,” said Joanne Bussinger, executive director of Blue Hills Community Services. “The green amenities and advantages of building with LEED Silver standards, which includes a ground-source heat pump, day light harvesting, solar panels, native landscaping, and water conservation and retention, will be monitored and benchmarked against standard code-compliant facilities to demonstrate the savings achieved. The improvements will ensure the facility’s overall affordability and reduction of local energy consumption.”
Funding for the project was secured with $2.2 million from the city of Kansas City, Missouri’s EnergyWorks KC grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and $430,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Greater Kansas City LISC has financed more than $900,000 for initial property acquisition and predevelopment costs.
“The city is pleased to be able to support this important initiative to promote small business development, job creation and energy efficiency in the urban core,” said Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Circo.
“This development will be a model of green building practices,” said Councilwoman Melba Curls. “It will be a great asset for the residents of the Third Council District and the entire city.”
“As a component of the Blue Hills Quality of Life Plan, the facility will create an important place-based business incubator, enhance the Prospect commercial corridor and improve the area’s economic viability,” said Julie Porter, executive director for Greater Kansas City LISC. “These are all objectives of Greater Kansas City LISC and our NeighborhoodsNOW initiative.”
Blue Hills Community Services is working with additional partners on the development, including the Green Impact Zone of Kansas City, Kansas City Power & Light, JUNK Architects, Missouri Small Business Development Division, the Full Employment Council, and the Blue Hills and Town Fork Creek neighborhoods.
“The 5008 Prospect renovation will not only bring new life to a vacant building on Prospect, but also bring new energy to efforts to support small business and create jobs in the Green Impact Zone,” said Anita Maltbia, Green Impact Zone director. “We are excited to see this serve as a catalyst for other improvements in the area.”
ABOUT Blue Hills Community Services
Blue Hills Community Services (BHCS), a not-for-profit community development corporation, has been a catalyst for neighborhood development for nearly 38 years. Founded in 1974, BHCS set out to battle social and economic challenges faced by residents of the Blue Hills and surrounding neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri. Using a block by block strategy to focus neighborhood revitalization with new and renovated single family homes, multi-family development and home repair services to owner occupants, BHCS ensures neighborhood development is comprehensive and sustainable in creating healthy urban communities. For more information, visit www.bhcsmo.org.
ABOUT Our Strategic Partners
EnergyWorks KC is an innovative regional partnership to transform the energy efficiency market in the Kansas City metropolitan region. Kansas City was one of 25 communities to receive funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) BetterBuildings Neighborhood program to bolster energy retrofitting efforts with a $20 million award. For more information about EnergyWorks KC, call Dennis Murphy at the City’s Office of Environmental Quality at 816-513-3459 or visit www.kcmo.org/EWKC.
Greater Kansas City Local Initiatives Support Corporation has been at the forefront of targeting investment in Kansas City through its NeighborhoodsNOW revitalization program. This flagship initiative takes a comprehensive approach to transforming promising urban-core neighborhoods into sustainable communities. For more information about Greater Kansas City LISC, call Julie Porter at 816-753-0055 or visit www.lisc.org/kansascity.
Green Impact Zone of Missouri is a 150-square block area in the urban core of Kansas City that serves as a national model of place-based investment, demonstrating how a distressed community can be transformed through intense, focused coordination of programs and resources. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s initiative has gained national recognition and investment. For more information about the Green Impact Zone, call Anita Maltbia at 816-474-4240 or visit www.marc.org/greenimpactzone.
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