150 Black-Owned Kansas City Businesses To Be Displaced By Omaha Developer

[UpInArms]

An Omaha developer purchased an office building that serves as an incubator for Black-owned businesses, but no one has told those business owners what to expect.

Willa Robinson will probably need to relocate her store, Willa’s Books and Vinyl, which she’s operated out of the Citadel Office Building at 1734 E. 63rd Street since 2015. She’s heard a rumor that the building will be torn down in the fall.

Neither the new developer, Clarity Development Company of Omaha, Nebraska, or the former local owner, John Barbieri, has mentioned the possibility of dislocation to her or the other 150 mostly Black tenants in the building. However, a recent article in the Kansas City Business Journal says that the six-story building will be razed later this year or early next to make way for a $35 million, 181-unit apartment building.

Barbieri has either managed or owned the building for 26 of its 49 years. He’s currently managing it for Clarity and a related Nebraska business entity which owns the building.

“I called him and left a message, and I said, ‘John, you need to tell me something because we’re hearing all these rumors.’ Robinson said. "He never answered me.”

Barbieri said he thought it would be more appropriate for the new developer to deliver the news, so he’s kept quiet. However, Neeraj Agarwal, Clarity Development's principal operator, said he’s waiting to contact the tenants until he has a firm plan in place, which he expects will happen after the City Plan Commission meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

... snip ...

The building, which has a bus stop out front for easy community access, houses hair stylists, a short-order lunch counter, a dermatologist, retail shops, art studios and more. Robinson said it has been a sort of incubator for Black businesses—unlike anything else around.

more at:

https://www.kcur.org/housing-development-section/2021-04-19/150-black-owned-kansas-city-businesses-to-be-displaced-by-omaha-developer

[NQAS]

1. Sounds like a "cleaner" version of Tulsa, 1921

Vibrant Black business community, erased.

Tulsa, 1921. Erased.

Seneca Village, Central Park, mid-19th century. Erased. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_Village#:~:text=Seneca%20Village.%20Seneca%20Village%20was%20a%20small%20settlement,several%20other%20minorities%2C%20including%20Irish%20and%20German%20immigrants%2C

Probably dozens of Black communities in the 1950s, as the interstate highway system was being designed and built. Erased. https://catalyst.independent.org/2020/04/02/how-the-u-s-government-destroyed-black-neighborhoods/

Can't recall the name, but there was a thriving business catering to Black beach-goers in California in the 1920s. Cheated out of the property by the city. Erased. (Current family members fighting back.)

No, I am not ignoring what was done to Native Americans and Chinese and Japanese immigrants. This article was about Black businesses, so I mention those.

It is heartbreaking to think about what might have been.

And on and on. I had to look it up, but it was a 19th century French writer, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, who said, The More Things Change, The More They Remain The Same.

[chowder66]

2. That is walking distance from where I grew up.

I hope they come up with a solution.

[cinematicdiversions]

3. In reality it is a tough call.

There is plenty of commercial spaces going begging so many businesses should have little issue relocating. In addition, the area is desperate for more housing particularly affordable options like apartments.

In reality, there are no easy answers here.