There's a lot of iron in the air around 18th and Vine right now, and the city wants everyone to know it.
In its Oct. 9 Revive the Vine update, the City of Kansas City laid out where things stand across the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District. Revive the Vine is the city's $400 million-plus reinvestment initiative there, combining public infrastructure with private development. For contractors, the headline items are housing: a massive rebuild at Parade Park and vertical construction on The Parker.
Parade Park: demolition first
Demolition continues at Parade Park Homes, part of a $300 million rebuilding project that will create more than 1,100 affordable homes for seniors, families and working people.
The neighborhood is one of the first Black-owned housing cooperatives in America, and the existing cooperative has 510 units. The city says it will be rebuilt with modern apartments that former residents can move back into.
Here's the timeline the city laid out:
- Demolition is expected to take about 60 to 75 days. It had been delayed by federal permit requirements.
- The first phase will include 479 townhomes, apartments and flats and is expected to be finished in 2027.
- The overall project is expected to be finished in 2031.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held Oct. 24, 2025, the city says, and the work has already changed traffic on Woodland Avenue, where no-parking zones were moved to the other side and the road was restriped.
The Parker: going vertical
On Vine Street between 18th and 19th streets, The Parker is up out of the ground. The project has 48 apartments above commercial space in two buildings, one three stories and one four stories, with an estimated cost of more than $20 million.
The developer is 18th & Vine Developers LLC, which the city says is made up of McCormack Baron Salazar, Avernir Group LLC and Taliferro and Browne.
According to the update, phase two of construction is underway, and vertical construction means large machinery and cranes moving big pieces of metal and wood. Framing is ongoing on both buildings, and the framing on building one was expected to be finished by the end of the following week. The city expects The Parker to be complete in April 2027.
Pedestrians are being detoured at 19th Street and the Paseo, and fencing extends onto sidewalks on 18th Street and Vine Street during this phase.
The city's project list also shows more housing and mixed-use work lined up behind those two:
- 18th and Lydia Housing: Roughly 150 units with amenity spaces and a small amount of ground-floor commercial space on 18th Street, around the city-owned garage at 1819 Lydia Ave. Grayson Capital is the developer, and major construction is expected to start by the end of 2026. Total cost is pending.
- One Nine Vine Phase 2: Mixed-use buildings off 19th Street between the Paseo and Vine Street, with a total cost of $19.47 million. Major construction is expected to start by the end of 2026.
- Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and hotel: A 30,000-square-foot museum and an 80-room hotel from Grayson Capital, with major construction also expected to start by the end of 2026. The city puts the cost at more than $30 million and says the developer is still seeking funding to complete it.
On the public side, KC Water's contractor Ace Pipe Cleaning Inc. is rehabbing a historic brick sewer near the Clymer Community Center, with work scheduled to wrap up by December 2026. MoDOT's I-70 reconstruction through the area carries a $237 million budget, with an 11-month highway shutdown anticipated in 2027.
The city's update didn't name general contractors for Parade Park or The Parker.
Why it matters for Contractors
Few spots in Kansas City have this much work stacked in one place. Parade Park alone means demolition and site work now, then 479 homes in the first phase and more than 1,100 by 2031, a multi-year pipeline for framers, roofers, MEP trades and finish crews. The Parker's framing is moving quickly toward an April 2027 finish, and 18th and Lydia, One Nine Vine Phase 2 and the museum and hotel are all expected to start by the end of the year. Contractors who want in should be talking to the developers named here now, and keep an eye on the I-70 closure in 2027, which will change how crews and deliveries get around the district.