A new report on progress in downtown Wichita shows private investment more than tripled between 2014 and 2015.
The Wichita Downtown Development Corporation says more than $95 million in private investment went toward the city’s downtown last year; in 2014, private investment reached about $22 million. Total private and public investment in 2015 was more than $120 million, the highest one-year total since the organization's master plan was adopted in 2010.
A dozen projects are under construction, and 13 more are in planning stages. Last year, developers finished Phase I of work on historic Union Station. Phase II is now underway on the $54 million renovation.
A major focus of downtown’s development is housing. Ground broke on the expansive River Vista residences on the west bank of the Arkansas River, and as of last year, hundreds of new residential units were under construction throughout the area.
The city also broke ground on the new Advanced Learning Library earlier this summer.
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