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2016 A Year Of Growth For Downtown Wichita

downtownwichita.org
Several developments launched in 2016, including the Advanced Learning Library (rendering, top), River Vista (rendering, bottom left) and The Douglas project (bottom right).

Officials say 2016 was a good year for launching new projects in downtown Wichita. More than $280 million have been invested along Douglas Avenue alone.

Several developments launched last year, including the Advanced Learning Library, the River Vista--a large residential property being built on the west bank of the river--and The Douglas project, the $45 million renovation of two historic buildings on Market and Douglas

Jason Gregory, with the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation, says there have been 661 new residential units built since the master plan was adopted seven years ago. He also says there are more on the way.

“We currently have 874 [units] that are either under construction or soon [will] be. They are in the phases of planning, and so that’s a substantial number," Gregory says. "We're poised to double our population in the next two to three years from where we started in 2010.”

Gregory says preliminary studies show a downtown grocery store could be supported with the current residential and employment base. He says groups are actively looking into it, but no concrete deal has been made.

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Carla Eckels is assistant news director and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels.

 
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

 

Carla Eckels is Director of Organizational Culture at KMUW. She produces and hosts the R&B and gospel show Soulsations and brings stories of race and culture to The Range with the monthly segment In the Mix. Carla was inducted into The Kansas African American Museum's Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 2020 for her work in broadcast/journalism.