By Kevin Collison

City Club Apartments has begun a marketing campaign for a $76.8 million development that’s expected to transform a desolate block along the streetcar line in the Crossroads District into a dynamic mixed-use project.

The suburban Detroit-based developer is planning to renovate the historic Midwest Hotel at 1925 Main St. and combine it with a new six-story building to create 283 apartments with two levels of underground parking totaling 290 spaces.

It also plans to build a restaurant on the site of the former Hereford House at 20th and Main. A total of 11,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space is planned, according to the marketing document.

The entire project will revitalize a city block from 19th to 20th streets, between Walnut and Main, that’s currently parking lots and vacant buildings.

Construction is expected to begin by late this summer with completion in summer 2019, according to documents filed with the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority.

“City Club Apartments is underway with an extremely exciting development at 20th and Main Street in the heart of the Crossroads in Kansas City,” the marketing document stated.

“With easy access to the central business district and among Kansas City’s most popular destinations, restaurants, nightlife, etc., this CCA development is sure to fulfill your dynamic lifestyle.”

The developer of the project was unavailable for comment.

It’s been almost six months since the PIEA approved tax incentives for the project: a 20 year property tax abatement, 85 percent for 10 years and 37.5 percent for another 10 years, and a sales tax exemption on construction materials.

The developer also agreed to set aside 10 percent of the apartments for people earning 80 percent or less of the Jackson County median income.

The plan calls for most of the amenities in the project to be located in the five-story former Midwest Hotel, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They will include a clubroom, fitness center, theater and rooftop pool.

The marketing document described the amenities as “resort-class…that rival the world’s finest boutique hotels and exclusive clubs.” The architect is BKV Group of Chicago.

City Club Apartments owns more than 10,000 apartments in 30 communities, and has more than $500 million under development around the country.

The project will restore life to the former Midwest Hotel, one of three “working class” hotels in the area that accommodated travelers arriving at Union Station, according to its historic application. It was built in 1915.

The other two nearby hotels, both of which have been redeveloped, are the Regier and Monroe.

The site of the former Hereford House restaurant has been a vacant lot since 2008, when an arson fire destroyed the restaurant.

The City Club Apartments project is the latest addition to an apartment boom that’s adding thousands of new units to downtown Kansas City. Developers say there is a strong appetite for living in walkable neighborhoods among both millennials and empty nesters.