Will this help or destory the Plaza? (St. Louis, Overland: fit in, lawyers)

[brewcrew1000]

Office building planned in heart of the Country Club Plaza - KansasCity.com (http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/19/2162001/office-building-planned-in-heart.html?pageNum=7&&&&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav# Comments_Container - broken link)

Since the West Plaza project failed, i see this being a huge disaster

[shindig]

Needs to go downtown. Nice parcel of land at 13th and Grand waiting to be developed.

[moorlander]

PS just consolidated it's St. Louis operations in an office tower in DT St. Louis. I read an article in the Bizjournal about this new construction this morning but I didn't realize what it would replace.

I don't mind this new building but this is NOT the proper location. This does not belong on a prime corner in country club plaza. I'd be surprised if this get's built.

[skrizzle]

I think it would be ok and even a good thing if they made the building fit The plaza style. As is no way... it should also incorporate what is already there to preserve the historical aspect. That's my initial reaction. As planned I'm completely against and honestly think this should be downtown.

[kcmo]

I've been busy posting on other forums about this. This forum has such a suburban "soccermom" mentaility that it's far from the right place to discuss "urban" planning.

But this is a terrible and destructive plan. The city can't let this happen in its current form.

[TinaMcG]

I agree with KCMO. The planned project will demolish traditional Plaza architecture and detract from the feel of the area. And it's a law firm, for heaven's sake. Their PR machine is saying their presence in the Plaza will give them more national and international stature, blahblahblah...but for heaven's sake -- IT'S A LAW FIRM. How does that fit with Country Club Plaza? I can't remember the name of the firm, but itmight as well be "Dewey Cheatham and Howe"...

[skrizzle]

Yeah it's pretty ridiculous, if it wants to be in that area it should build around the outskirts of the Plaza like most other corporations...

Once again I could only see it fitting if it incorporated the archetecture of the Plaza, and it's street level I would think should still have shops in it and such...

Really hope this doesn't happen.. I think they will put a stop to it honestly. They should build downtown... my guess is tho if they do stop it the firm to spite KC will then go off to JoCo. I'd rather the KC area loses 500 jobs then tears up part of the Plaza tho

[kcmo]

I have three problems with this proposal.

Tearing down the historic tower and retail building. Sure a lot has be torn down already. That doesn't justify tearing that down. That is a truly historic and iconic corner of the plaza that can't be replaced with modern construction. Valencia Place was a very classy addition to the plaza and what it replaced what was pretty much blight. Valencia Place has a very nice streetscape and is actually one of the more active and pedestrian friendly parts of the plaza now, despite the tower which is setback from the retail and street and designed well to fit into the plaza. There is very little of the original plaza left and that corner is one of the more interesting and corners.

Second, tearing down any, and I mean ANY viable, high quality urban residential. There is simply no excuse to remove viable residential structures from any place in urban kcmo, especially when it's likely to be replaced with structured parking. How many people live in those 90 units? I would bet that their economic impact on the plaza is quite similar to that of 500 lawyers because they LIVE there and are there after five pm. The fact that the Plaza has a high percent of residential is why the plaza thrives.

Third, I understand this company wants to stay in KCMO, but they keep implying that they "could" move to kansas and that they should be given whatever the hell they want just because they are staying in the city. I'm so sick and tired of the "we will go to JoCo or else" game in KC. Let them move there. KCMO is probably better off if that is how they are and if they really want to jump the state line, they probably will in a few years anyway, so why should KCMO let them destroy a part of their city?

But here is the thing. They are not moving there. They are a KCMO based law firm. Law firms don't want to be in suburban office parks. How will they entertain clients or themselves? Hire buses and take them to Oak Park Mall? They want to be in the most glamorous class A office building in the best and most exciting parts of the city. They will keep a small office in KS for political reasons only but will want to stay in the heart of the city. But it's extremly anoying for them play the state line game. Companies that do that rank way down on my list of good corporate citizens.

I don't want the Plaza to look like Corporate Woods or Lenexa Town Center or even Clayton, MO. The Plaza is what makes KC special, not suburban office parks, no matter how fancy they are.

The people that do know about KC out here remember one area of town specifically and it's always the Plaza.

I don't blame them for not going downtown or crown center. The firm has plaza roots and the plaza area is still KC's most active urban area. But they have to rethink this. There are so many options to this plan and this site even within blocks of 47th and Broadway.


This is what they could do, although, I would rather see them go to a fringe site on the plaza, or better yet Downtown.

[xanzzz]

There are facts that the public (me included do not know). We do not know the physical condition of what is to be torn down. We also do not know the final drawing of what they plan to build to know if it fits the architecture of the Plaza.

For the size and upscale stores a mixture of residential and commercial area is needed to support such a place. Just residential is quite dangerous as it does limit the base. But too much commercial can also make traffic be highly up and down. While I am not a fan of lawyers a large firm of them and the people that come see them would be a very good thing for any area in terms of economic impact.

Law offices are usually in downtown areas or in wealthy suburbs lumped together for a reason and not because of client entertainment. Downtown is where the courts are and being where other firms are all this makes it easier to go back and forth. But most clients actually dislike going downtown like most people especially during high traffic work days. It is why most major cities tend to have a cluster in downtown and a wealthy suburb. The fact is this law firm threat is totally real as Overland Park or places near there are perfectly functional.

Whenever you have some significant size company looking to go someplace there can always be thoughts of winners and losers. Placing them downtown does not guarantee winners all around. No one can think that trying to force them downtown will be a win win scenario.

If I was the Plaza I would make sure my identity did not take a hit but welcome the law firm with open arms. In these economic times and for a place that will bring people in outside of nights and weekends, that is something not to dismiss so easily.

[aragx6]

There are so many unused or underused commercial properties just off The Plaza where they could build to their heart's content. I don't need to know the condition of the building it would replace to know that it is worth saving.