2015 what's under construction in Kansas City, Missouri thread (Union, Campbell: rent, tenants)

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by rwiksell

My understanding is that the developers of Crown Center originally envisioned this when they located half a mile south of the loop. They were very public about how they expected the space in between to fill up with skyscrapers, and imagined that they were quite literally growing KC's skyline. Obviously it didn't happen, and I don't think it ever should. There's still PLENTY of space inside the loop for high-rise development, and Crossroads has a unique historic flair which shouldn't be plowed under to become Downtown Jr.

I like Crown Center and all, but I wish they could have built it either in the loop, or much closer to it. Seems like the east side of the loop would have been prime real estate, and dilapidated enough to offer the blank canvas they needed. But you know... hindsight and all.

Actually, Crown Center has actually fought against development of the crossroads. This is not the case anymore, but back in the 80's, Crown Center was against any sort of investment in the crossroads because they thought it would create competition. They were even against many redevelopment plans for Union Station (back when it was in terrible shape) that had retail, office space etc and even supported a plan to raze union station to expand crown center offices and parking. Again, this is not the case today as Crown Center has embraced its location and supports all downtown development. Crown Center even supports a new downtown convention center hotel today.

As far as location. Signboard Hill and the entire area where Crown Center is today was probably more blightened in the 60's and 70's than any part of Downtown was because it was a sort of industrial area. That area of the city was totally redeveloped with Crown Center. I really like Crown Center because it has its own unique identity, yet it's still part of downtown. The Crown Center area contrast perfectly with the Loop, Crossroads and the Plaza. The ice terrace and square of Crown Center is something most cities the size of KC do not have and I don't think people in KC realize how unique and busy Crown Center is. I worked in the complex for ten years and it's just always busy. It's a nice mixed use development. It's very similar to Rockefeller Center in NYC. I'm being serious about that. I do wish that Crown Center would get a bit more aggressive with developing out the rest of the area, especially with more residential. I'm really surprised that Crown Center has not developed a large residential complex in one the parking lots to the south. They do have plans to develop Crown Center into more of an 24 hour district with a lot more residential. With everything else going on in downtown, I would think Crown Center would pull the trigger and start building some of what has been on their drawing board the last few years.

Here are some rendering of what Crown Center would like to do. You can see some of the existing crown center highrises in the renderings to get your bearing on perspective.

Looking north down Grand Ave


27th (this is all surface parking today)

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by brandthom

Awesome list. To add a few AC Hotel in Westport will be done and the Plaza 211 redevelopment will replace Halls closed Plaza location. I feel there's a few renovation projects not on here but if I find them I'll come back.

Westport AC Hotel:



Plaza block 211:

[kcmo]

This is incredible news. If you really follow development and business news closely, you would know just how important this is. This means that KC's downtown "office" market is starting to wake back up after a brutal past ten years or so. After years of losing employees and many office buildings (even modern post 1980's buildings) going residential, this is a huge sign that demand for downtown office space may be bouncing back.

This project includes 144,000 sq feet of new class A office space and it sounds like it will be developed spec, which is a great sign that developers are feeling really good about leasing it. The project includes redeveloping the mostly vacant ten story building and building a new 3 story building and parking garage with some retail.


Historic Corrigan Building will get new life ? but not as apartments - Kansas City Business Journal

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by wwmaps

Nice post KCMO. Don't forget to think small. I would like to see more new single family house construction as a good residential option for young people starting families and empty nesters looking to leave the burbs. We love our new Union Hill house.

I think Beacon Hill is the best chance KC has at developing a single family / row house urban neighborhood close to downtown. After a very slow and complicated start, it seems like Beacon Hill is finally starting to gain some steam. The more that gets built, the more it will start to feed off itself and more rapidly develop.





Townhomes:



Examples of single family homes already finished:

[Truly Missouri]

Just how much more of an appeal would our downtown have if only the Plaza and Crown Center both were grafted into it, or closer to it.

I read elsewhere that our downtown's fiercest competitor was our own Plaza. And rightly so, the Plaza is just way too nice. If only, they could've been together.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by Truly Missouri

Just how much more of an appeal would our downtown have if only the Plaza and Crown Center both were grafted into it, or closer to it.

I read elsewhere that our downtown's fiercest competitor was our own Plaza. And rightly so, the Plaza is just way too nice. If only, they could've been together.

I don't want to veer off topic too much here but the plaza has been downtown's competitor for high end urban residential and retail, but not really office space. There is only a few million sq ft of office space on the plaza (a fraction of the tens of millions now in another part of the metro I won't mention). KC is large enough to support a secondary urban office district like the plaza. The Plaza and downtown can easily co-exist and flourish together complimenting each other. It would be nice if they were closer, but nothing can be done about that now. What could be done is connect them with the streetcar and build up midtown between them.

[Parkerlewis33]

Well, you will soon be able to ride the streetcar from downtown to the Pla... Union Station and walk 3 miles to the Plaza. All joking aside, it will be nice when it is eventually extended. The streetcar with the development along the line will help connect downtown with the Plaza and spur growth on both ends. There will be a lot of TOD in between, which will include condos, apartments and retail. That corridor is flowing better all the time as it is. It seems it will be a fairly natural evolution to develop the streetcar line with some density. In ten years people won't even notice the 2-3 miles in each direction to downtown or the Plaza. I agree with KCMO in the fact KC can handle both retail locations. I feel like the metro corporation relocation program is coming to an end, so it should be pretty interesting to see the momentum build. This is me being very optimistic.

[rwiksell]

Originally Posted by kcmo

I don't want to veer off topic too much here but the plaza has been downtown's competitor for high end urban residential and retail, but not really office space. There is only a few million sq ft of office space on the plaza (a fraction of the tens of millions now in another part of the metro I won't mention). KC is large enough to support a secondary urban office district like the plaza. The Plaza and downtown can easily co-exist and flourish together complimenting each other. It would be nice if they were closer, but nothing can be done about that now. What could be done is connect them with the streetcar and build up midtown between them.

Agreed. It's clear NOW that the distance between the Plaza and Downtown is not a big deal (with the proviso, already mentioned by a few, of easy public transit along that corridor. This matters most of all for the convention industry, to help connect all available center-city hotel rooms, as well as evening entertainment options, together.)

If that happens, I think it will be an almost perfect arrangement, with the River Market and the Plaza behaving like bookends, with all major urban hubs along a linear corridor. It might have been awkward if the Plaza was situated halfway to Independence. But damn, it would have been amazing in the spot where Berkeley Park is now, right on the river.

All that said, I do share the lament of some that a critical mass of CBD-CrownCenter-Plaza all within walking distance of each other, and of Union Station, would have been a game changer for downtown. I feel like the pattern that was created by the development of these things made it easier to just fling everything to the fringes (most notably the stadiums and the zoo), which is what ultimately did the most damage to KC's urban fabric (most notably the suburban office parks).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think St. Louis experienced this to quite the same degree, perhaps because they kept most of their urban destinations tight. Sure, you've got CForest Park out there just a bit, and then Clayton and the Loop beyond that, but none of that seems unnecessarily distant.

[rwiksell]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Actually, Crown Center has actually fought against development of the crossroads. This is not the case anymore, but back in the 80's, Crown Center was against any sort of investment in the crossroads because they thought it would create competition. They were even against many redevelopment plans for Union Station (back when it was in terrible shape) that had retail, office space etc and even supported a plan to raze union station to expand crown center offices and parking. Again, this is not the case today as Crown Center has embraced its location and supports all downtown development. Crown Center even supports a new downtown convention center hotel today.

I'm sure you're right about CC's original insecurities. But I was pretty sure that when they were first proposing and building the complex that a big part of their PR was how it would spur additional development. Maybe that's all it was: PR. It's easy to get excited about collateral development when you're proposing a project, and then nervous about it later, when you feel like you have to compete for customers.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by rwiksell

I'm sure you're right about CC's original insecurities. But I was pretty sure that when they were first proposing and building the complex that a big part of their PR was how it would spur additional development. Maybe that's all it was: PR. It's easy to get excited about collateral development when you're proposing a project, and then nervous about it later, when you feel like you have to compete for customers.

Well, you must be older than me. I barely remember the Hyatt skywalk collapse let alone when Crown Center was proposed .

But really, It's way past time for Crown Center to develop the southern portion of their property. While Hallmark and Crown Center have been wonderful for KCMO, all those parking lots are just a disgrace to the urban core, especially in such a prime location. They don't even use the parking lots anymore since they built a huge garage next to the Shook, Hardy & Bacon Tower.

With Union Hill building out to the south and the Crossroads redevelopment and infill to the north, I don't see whey Crown Center could not get this done. It would only help their own retail and dining tenants and I would think it would be a very popular place to live.

Here are some more renderings of what they want to do and what is there now:

Crown Center Completion Plan

Looking west down 27th:






Looking south down Grand:






Plan View. All the darker areas in the renderings are planned development that is all vacant or nearly unused surface parking today.