Add affordable to the list of reasons to choose Riverside as a place to do business. A new report released on Monday found that Riverside had the lowest industrial and office permit fees of the 14 cities evaluated in the Kansas City metro.

The Greater Kansas City Municipal Development Report Card, produced by the Lewis White Real Estate Center at the University of Missouri – Kansas City and the Society for Industrial Office Realtors (SIOR), evaluated municipalities in the Kansas City metropolitan area to determine general time tables and fee structures and costs associated with development projects. 

Planning departments were presented with two projects – an office building and an industrial building, and were asked to provide an estimate on the amount of time it would take to review and approve the project, as well as the total fees for building and development.

Riverside estimated the fees for a $9.6 million, 60,000 square-foot office building would be $37,910 and the fees for a $10 million, 100,000 square-foot industrial building would be $39,110.  This is significantly lower than Overland Park, who had the highest fees for both projects – approximately $250,000 for the office building and $350,000 for the industrial building. 

Riverside also scored well in the category of permit approval time.  The City tied for fourth with Lee’s Summit, estimating 10 weeks to approve a project.

“We understand that the City of Riverside is one of many communities developers can choose from in the metro area,” Mike Duffy, Director of Community Development, said.  “We strive to make Riverside a great place to do business, and that includes having efficient processes and low development costs.”

The City of Riverside, Mo. is located 10 minutes north of downtown Kansas City.  Riverside is currently in the process of updating its 2006 award-winning master plan, part of which will focus on redevelopment of its downtown corridor and creating a plan for more than 600-acres of undeveloped land near Highway 9 and I-635.

For more information on Riverside’s rankings in this report or other development in the City, contact Mike Duffy, Director of Community Development, at (816) 365-3477 or mduffy@riversidemo.com.

The City of Riverside would like to congratulate Capital Electric Line Builders, Briarcliff Development Company, Sunflower Food and Spice, Platte County Community Center – South, and the Park Hill School District for their awards at last week’s Platte County Economic Development Council’s Job Development Awards Luncheon.

The City of Riverside presented Capital Electric Line Builders with the Community Business of the Year Award.  Capital Electric relocated to Riverside in August 2009 to form its new headquarters, bringing 170 skilled jobs to Riverside and Platte County.  The company specializes in electrical services and operates in public and private sector projects in a ten state region.  Riverside recognized Capital Electric for their contribution to our community – not only in number of jobs but also as good community citizens.

Platte County EDC presented Briarcliff Development Company with a Job Development Award.  Briarcliff Development recently began expanding their Northland presence into the City of Riverside by forming a key partnership with the City and its staff.  Briarcliff Professional Plaza will house nearly 100,000 SF of office space and bring over $24 million of investment to the area.  The residential component, Briarcliff Hills, will add 300 single family, villa and cottage homes to Riverside.  The City would like to thank Briarcliff for their investment in our community this year.

Sunflower Food and Spice, which is located in Riverside, was also given a Job Development Award from the Platte County EDC.  Sunflower Food and Spice has developed a wide variety of gourmet food products for the specialty food industry.  They employee 30 full-time people year-round and increase their employees to 50 during peak holiday seasons.  Riverside is proud to have Sunflower Food and Spice call our community home.

Two community partners – Park Hill School District and Platte County Community Center – South, were also recognized.  Park Hill School District received the Community Business of the Year Award from Kansas City and Platte County Community Center – South received the Community Business of the Year Award from Parkville.  Riverside appreciates the strong partnerships our City has with both of these organizations and extends our congratulations to both for their outstanding community participation.

Capital Electric Line Builders - Riverside Community Business of the Year