Officials plan free, public tour of downtown apartments

It’s been a little more than a year since Shannon Boone chucked living in a 2,400-square-foot house in Derby for a 1,800-square-foot apartment in downtown Wichita.

“Honestly, I can’t come up with any negatives other than (the absence of) a grocery store, and even with that, one’s only 10 minutes away,” said Boone, whose 10-year-old daughter and 19-year-old son moved with her. “Most things I do are downtown, so it’s been a really good move.”

Downtown officials hope to show other area residents what it’s like to live downtown when they host the Downtown Living Tour later this month.

The tour, to be held from 1 to 5 p.m. on March 29, is aimed at showcasing a variety of downtown apartments at nine different buildings: the Lux, Rock Island Lofts, Eaton Place, Player Piano Lofts, Finn Lofts, Innes Station, Commerce Street Lofts, Flats 324 and WaterWalk Hotel Apartments.

The event, which is free to the public, will include free transportation to the buildings via the city’s Q-Line trolley service.

The Wichita Downtown Development Corp. created the tour.

“It’s been something we’ve actually wanted to do for several years now,” said Jason Gregory, the downtown development corporation’s executive vice president, adding that until recently, many of the downtown buildings on the tour – including the Lux, where Boone lives – were under construction for conversion to apartments.

“We kind of put it off until we felt like we had enough new inventory to showcase,” he said.

Gregory said the purpose of the event is not to fill vacant apartments downtown. He said, however, he thinks people are curious about downtown apartments, what choices there are and what different units look like inside. For those people who are curious but don’t know someone who lives downtown, this is a chance for them to satisfy their curiosity.

“We have several goals and objectives,” he said. “No. 1 is just awareness for the community, what offerings we have downtown … how many great living options there are. … There are not a lot of vacancies. That’s a good problem to have.”

He said the development group will also open its offices that day to allow people to see drawings and other information about projects that have yet to break ground, such as the planned River Vista apartments on the west bank of the Arkansas River.

“I think (the tour) is going to be well received,” Gregory said.

The Wichita Downtown Development Corp. has created a website for information about the tour at www.downtownwichitalivingtour.com.

Boone said her son initially resisted the idea of moving downtown.

Since then, he has moved out of Boone’s apartment at the Lux and into his own, one floor above, she said.

This story was originally published March 1, 2015 at 8:36 PM with the headline "Officials plan free, public tour of downtown apartments."