Housing will be key to growth of
UMKC and adjacent neighborhoods
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The new Hospital Hill Housing project, the first student housing facility on the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Hospital Hill Campus, will be the focus of an Oct. 1 celebration.
The project is expected to be a key component in the continuing expansion of the University’s health professions schools and a major step forward in the revitalization of the Beacon Hill area.
Officials from the state, city, university, and surrounding neighborhood will celebrate the project in a cornerstone celebration at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 1, on the southeast corner of 25th and Troost.
The $30.33 million Hospital Hill housing project will provide living quarters for 245 UMKC students in one-, two- and four-bedroom units. Located on the southeast corner of 24th and Troost, the facility will also include a fitness facility, a 196-space parking garage, and a pedestrian walkway to connect the residence hall to the rest of the UMKC Hospital Hill Campus. It is expected to open for the fall semester of 2014.
The Beacon Hill area has been one of the City’s key redevelopment sites for the last 13 years. Once a solid middle class neighborhood, the population of Beacon Hill has dropped to less than 100 people. Redevelopment to date has included the reconstruction of the former Robinson Hospital into a successful senior housing facility, as well as scattered new construction of single-family residences.
The city has designated Beacon Hill as its key redevelopment area and is completing installation of new infrastructure in the northwest quadrant of the area. This infrastructure will accommodate not only UMKC’s Hospital Hill housing project, but also provide 20 single-family lots, 18 of which have already been purchased for new home construction. The additional investment by Kansas City will include reconstruction of Troost Avenue from 22nd Street to 30th Street, which will serve to connect the areas east of Troost with the Hospital Hill and Ivanhoe neighborhoods to the west.
Beacon Hill Developers, the city’s Master Developer for the area, is an entity comprised of Zimmer Real Estate Services, Dunn Realty, Inc., and Taliaferro & Browne Real Estate. Hugh Zimmer, manager of Beacon Hill Developers, expressed gratitude to the City of Kansas City, the State of Missouri, and to the University of Missouri System for their ongoing support of this project.
“The Hospital Hill area is the core of Kansas City’s life sciences effort, and this expansion by UMKC will support that effort by providing quality living opportunities for students who are advancing this key economic development opportunity in Kansas City and western Missouri,” Zimmer said. “This project will serve as the catalyst for major additional development in the Beacon Hill area and the Troost Corridor.”
UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton said student housing on the Hospital Hill Campus would be an important element in the university’s efforts to grow enrollment in its health professions schools.
“About 3,4000 students are enrolled in our Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and Pharmacy, and we need to grow that enrollment to help meet the demand for healthcare workers,” Morton said. “Already there are more healthcare jobs than there are qualified people to fill them, and that deficit will grow. We know that 60 percent of our graduates stay in the metro area to practice, so this project will help us attract and retain top talent for the benefit of the region.”
About the University of Missouri-Kansas City
The University of Missouri-Kansas City, one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, and celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2013. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a four-part mission: life and health sciences; visual and performing arts; urban issues and education; and a vibrant learning and campus life experience. For more information about UMKC, visit www.umkc.edu. You can also find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and watch us on YouTube.
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