[IMGCAP(1)]

KANSAS CITY, MO—Well, maybe it's more of a vitalization than a REvitalization for sleepy Kansas City. There are shifts taking place in the local CBD that bode well for Millennials—and particularly those with dreams of a tech start-up.

Recognizing that the future lies with the young, City officials have recently unveiled a new program, LaunchKC, which, according to Misty Belsha, is “a national grants competition that will award up to $50,000 each to 10 tech-related startups.” Belsha, senior analytics associate for the KC market for data provider Xceligent—a GlobeSt.com Thought Leader—explains that hopeful Steve Jobs types can get up to a year of free Downtown rent, as well as “access to mentors and other resources.”  The only stipulation, she adds, is that the start-ups keep their businesses in the city for two years.

Belsha reports that since 2000, the CBD has doubled in its population—from 10,000 to 20,000, mixing both seniors and Millennials. But the preponderance of live-work-play amenities and such incentives as LaunchKC make the age emphasis clear.

(It should be noted that the long standing presence of Google Fiber in KC is itself a draw for young tech talent, as Xceligent's national director of analytics James Cook indicates.)

[IMGCAP(2)]

Developers, sensing the change, are piling into the CBD, converting largely vacant ex-warehousing spaces into lofts, upscale apartments and mixed-use housing. As a result of the push, the CBD, especially in the hotspot of the Crossroads sector, boasted a 45,141 square feet of positive absorption in Q1, while the metro as a whole sustained a negative 29,600-square-foot hit. But Belsha is quick to point out that this was in fact an anomaly, the result of one major tenant scaling back.

It's interesting to note that, despite the 10-year influx, the recognition of the CBD as a hotspot is so new that rents still lag behind other submarkets. It's not surprising also because much of that decade was spent in the recession.