Decades in the making, the Berkley Riverfront continues to develop through growing pains

Photo by Travis Meier

A lone light pole festooned with KC Current banners stands near a row of its fallen clones amid a sea of churned dirt. In the distance, heavy machinery crawls over heaps of earth. Construction workers prepare the land along the Missouri River for a project unlike Kansas City has ever seen. 

Down at Berkley Riverfront, the next 10 years have already begun. Although project leaders still haven’t announced an official groundbreaking, site work is underway on the $1 billion master redevelopment plan that would turn 2 million square feet of gravel and park land into a new urban village. 

On the other end of the riverfront, the KC Streetcar is simultaneously building its riverfront extension—a 0.6-mile spur north of the original streetcar route that will connect residents along the river with folks as far south as UMKC. In the meantime, ripped-up sod and intermittent street closures mark the long, arduous process of laying track on an elevated viaduct and redesigning park landscape to accommodate mass transit. The project’s completion is expected in 2026.

Kansas City’s relationship with the Missouri River is changing. What has, for the past 25 years, been a quiet park with fields, trees, and the occasional festival, will soon be one of KC’s premiere neighborhoods. Plans for the new district promise to turn the area into a bustling corridor, ushering in hundreds of new residential units, plus retail and public gathering spaces. 

But this direction isn’t just a response to the new CPKC Stadium, which sold out every KC Current home game (although the project is largely funded by KC Current owners Chris and Angie Long and their partners). The modern deluge of activity is actually just the start of Berkley’s longtime endgame—to develop Berkley real estate. Momentum for this undertaking has been building for more than a decade. Port KC even published a master development plan in 2010. Since then, leaders have looked toward a more incremental approach.

“Dozens of developers came and went,” Port KC CEO Jon Stephens says. “The hesitation was lack of connection—a physical connection—and really just sort of a disbelief that the riverfront would become a catalyst for more development.”

Stephens said it took the Union Apartments, which broke ground in 2016, to jumpstart the action. Port KC approved the KC Streetcar’s riverfront extension the following year, and Bar K officially opened in 2018. Then CORE, CPKC Stadium, and Origin Hotel.

Though, with all growth comes pain. Between the stadium village plan and the streetcar extension, construction has overtaken the area. Grassy berms and tree groves that often hosted park-goers are now replaced by construction zones. Even Two Birds, One Stone, the new taproom and beer garden set to open under Origin Hotel management, replaced land once solely dedicated to nature. Meanwhile, intermittent street closures make for navigation nightmares.

Photo by Travis Meier

Port KC has tried to address some of the park concerns. In November 2024, 100 volunteers worked with Port KC to plant 61 new trees, and another planting is scheduled for the spring. The sand volleyball courts were relocated near Union Apartments. A new bouldering installation adds an additional outdoor feature to the park. Stephens also said they’ve been planting native species, and the new projects give them a chance to address flash flooding problems by building underground stormwater coffers.

“We’re looking at creating zones,” Stephens says. Those include reflective nature spaces in the west with grass and tree cover, a sports zone around the new volleyball courts, the new streetcar stop framed next to the main lawn, and the shaded beer garden. Then, in the west, he hopes to work with the river’s corps of engineers to reclaim more of the riverbank. 

“We’re following the design model of putting buildings much closer to the river, which will kind of cut into that area [of the park], but what is forgotten about is that runoff, flood area closer to the river,” Stephens says. “The trail will start moving down into the riverbank, so that will actually be more acreage with trails and seating areas.”

He said their plan will preserve what is already at the riverfront while expanding on its amenities, all with the goal of bringing more people down to the river.

Phase one of the new village, which is expected to add at least 480 residential units, is expected to be complete in 2026, although apartment projects along Berkley have faced delays in the past. CORE II is also underway near Bar K after a previous plan for the site fell through.

An Eroded Relationship

It’s not the first time Kansas City’s relationship with Big Muddy has undergone big changes. Reverse the flow of time, and it becomes clear residents’ proximity and reliance on the river have risen and fallen over the centuries. But folks here have long thought of the river as an obstacle—something to get across—as opposed to something to spend time around.

“I grew up driving over the river,” Stephens says. For him, the Missouri was something to cross, to bypass, and then to forget about. It turns out this mindset goes way back.

Back when the state of Missouri officially incorporated the City of Kansas in 1853, local leaders were already dreaming up the Hannibal Bridge. Before the Civil War, the only way to ship goods west of St. Louis was by boat. The Hannibal Bridge was the first bridge to cross the Missouri River, allowing trains to bypass the long, dangerous river routes that imperiled people and goods (think the Steamboat Arabia).

“Spanning the river with rail changed the narrative,” Stephens says. “That became the modern mode of transit.”

On July 3, 1869, 40,000 people gathered to celebrate the new bridge along with a new kind of independence: freedom from the confines of river and wagon. There were picnics, parades, hot air balloons and fireworks. It was the beginning of the town’s boom—and the river’s decline. 

Photo by Travis Meier

Union Depot, Kansas City’s precursor to Union Station, was built in the West Bottoms in 1878. It made sense at the time; It was next to the Stock Exchange and a short distance from the Hannibal Bridge, which wasn’t even 10 years old. Business (and population) in KC was buzzing. Then, the Missouri River flooded in 1903, swamping the West Bottoms. It was a catastrophe for the city and the people, who both depended on a reliable train hub. Union Station opened in 1914, more than 1.5 miles from the river. Union Depot was razed a year later.

Still, the identity of being a “river city” remained. As Kansas City grew, people continued using the water to reach communities on opposite banks. Main Street was a popular boat landing. 

But then, the Armour Swift Burlington (ASB) Bridge opened in 1911. This double-decker bridge opened a new train route on its lower level and carried streetcar lines and automobile roadways on its upper level. Now, residents could quickly ferry themselves across the sky instead of slowly through the water. 

In 1951, the “great flood”—the Missouri River’s worst devastation to date—resulted in more than a billion 1951 dollars of damage to the region. Twenty-eight people died, and KC’s stockyards were decimated. In response, a new levee systemwas built, raising the banks to stave off future floods. They also acted as a social barrier between us and the water.  

“The death knell of the old heritage of the river was flood control and then the levee system, which was absolutely vital,” Stephens says.

Kansas Citians moved away, and the riverfront, along with much of downtown, fell into disrepair. The park we now call Berkley became a landfill for construction debris, a site for a sand and gravel company, and even a tow lot. Highways overtook trains as the premier means of getting around and more bridges were built. Today, downtown has three major car bridges and two rail bridges all serving one purpose: bypassing the river. 

Reconnecting in Waves

Since the ’70s, city leaders have inched toward reclaiming a relationship with the Missouri River. Missouri established Port KC in 1977 to, in part, “redevelop the Downtown Kansas City Riverfront to promote and develop new opportunities for residence, commerce, and leisure.” Berkley Riverfront Park—the result of more than 20 years of planning, lobbying, fundraising, and construction—was always only part of the plan: “leisure.” It took almost another two decades to spur “residence,” and now, Port KC is finally poised to turn the riverfront into what state and local leaders always wanted. 

“It was one of the things I noticed when I got here four years ago—We’ve got this gorgeous natural element of Kansas City, a riverfront, that we do nothing with,” Kansas City Manager Brian Platt says. “Not every city has something so unique and beautiful.”

For decades, the riverfront was the neglected loner no one wanted to sit with. Then, it became the loveable introvert with a core group of buddies. Now, it’s becoming the most popular kid in school. Anyone who’s ever seen a rom-com knows that kind of change causes societal disruption. In this case, Platt said he’s aware the influx of density and activation may result in relationship issues.

“We’re not looking to build a 60-story glass tower in this area,” he says. “There’s a way to balance and co-mingle and have everything interact peacefully and positively… It will actually add more variety and allow people to stay [at the park] more.”

Stephens agrees; He said the village won’t be an entertainment district, such as Power and Light, but it will be an “extension of downtown” and a “world-class destination.”

Photo by Travis Meier

Extending downtown to the river means connecting neighborhoods—a tall order for city leaders. Yes, the interstate is an invaluable artery, and the River Market is connected by the Grand Street viaduct and the River Heritage Trail. However, the rail lines that once connected KC to the country now separate local neighborhoods, like Columbus Park and the West Bottoms. Stephens said there’s a plan for both.

When discussing Columbus Park, Stephens says, “Our plan would be to build a separated crossing, effectively a bridge with bike, pedestrian, and vehicular standards that will connect Guinotte [Ave.] and NE Industrial [Trafficway] into Columbus Park [from Lydia Ave].” Port KC got a grant to study the intersection, solicited community feedback, and received an initial design. Next comes the funding part.

As for the West Bottoms, Stephens says, “Port KC opened the levy from the town of Kansas bridge all the way to the West Bottoms.” He said the path is closed while the old Buck O’Neil bridge deconstruction is underway, but, by spring, they plan to reopen the trail with new signage and lighting guiding pedestrians from the Town of Kansas Bridge over to Liberty Street—and to the historic redevelopment happening there, too.

And Platt says the Missouri River itself could see some activation in the future.

“There’s an opportunity to have boats on the river and more interaction,” he says. Platt says he was aware of the challenges Big Muddy poses, and that the city is prepared to work with state agencies. “At the very least, just being able to get close enough to it without being in it. [A] pier would allow for a gathering space adjacent to the river.” 

That’s all in the distant future. In the meantime, crews continue to make daily progress with phase one and the streetcar’s extension—crews churning dirt and knocking down light poles to make way for Kansas City’s future; a future that includes a new, reconnected relationship with the Missouri River, which flows on in the background as it has done all along.

As Platt says, 2025 will be a “year of dust. It’ll be awesome.”