39 th and Rainbow project moving forward

At a public hearing January 21, the TIF Plan regarding the 39 th and Rainbow TIF district was set out. If all goes well construction is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2010 and should be completed and ready to receive tenants in the summer or fall of 2011.

As one commissioner put it, the exciting new development needs to be full of “class.” With 68 Class A apartments, the development will fit that billing. A Marriott hotel with 89 rooms will provide flexibility.

Developers expect the mixed use buildings to provide good quality housing by the KU Med Center, especially for the many semi-permanent researchers that pass through the center. The housing will be of a high quality, and attractive for its location close to the med-center, and the down-town area.

The ground level of the mixed-use buildings will be retail space that will include some national chain restaurants. Though the names of these businesses are as yet unknown to us the new development is sure to draw excitement and business to the Kansas side of the state line.

RDA has pushed for this development as a venue to keep retail dollars here in Rosedale and address the need for a quality hotel near to KU. We hope this will attract new residents and shoppers to Rosedale and spur future growth in the area in compliance with our Rosedale Master Plan.

The buildings, on the West side of Rainbow, will extend from 39 th South to Taco Bell, which will remain, and from Rainbow to Adams