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Harpers in the News

18th & Vine district adds new restaurants to menu

Planning a Jan. 31 opening at 1601 E. 18th St., in the Lincoln Building at the corner of 18th and Vine streets, is Harper's, an organic food restaurant. Myra Harper, the restaurant's operator, has been working on the concept for almost a decade.

Peter Yelorda, the JDRC's co-chairman, said he hopes to announce soon a new tenant for the Peachtree's space, 1512 E. 18th St.

"We want to complete the district by developing Vine Street," Yelorda said. "It's where we want to see neighborhood retail to support residential."

In the spring, Yelorda said, facades that have lined the street since it was pictured in Robert Altman's 1996 movie "Kansas City" will be removed. The JDRC will work with the Downtown Council of Kansas City to create green spaces that the Downtown Council can use to promote the district to developers at events such as the International Council of Shopping Centers' annual convention in Las Vegas.

"We own the land," Yelorda said about the JDRC. "That will be our part of the deal."

Elsewhere in the district, the JDRC is preparing to turn the former Rochester Hotel, 1821 Highland Ave., and six single-family houses on Highland Avenue into affordable housing for senior citizens.

Brian Collins of Cougar Capital LLC, developer of what's called Highland Place, said he expects occupancy in early 2009. Collins said the $4.6 million project will use more than $2 million of federal and state low-income housing tax credits. This award, made in December by the Missouri Housing Development Corp., "was the critical piece," Collins said.

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