Turn the North Loop into a bigger living/working district?

[ShowMeKC]

Now that a Downtown Stadium is off the table for a couple decades, why don't we take advantage of those parking lots in the north loop, and turn them into a living/working district the size of which our city hasn't seen since Kansas City Place?

The lots are owned by several companies, including DST, Tower Properties, and more. An organization could be created and a master plan put in place to promote these companies into finding tenants and developing these properties privately.

Of course, more would be involved with this, but they could recreate the junction, and greatly increase the amount of condos/lofts in the area.

Here is my idea, the towers range from about 15 floors to 40-50 floors. (650ft) The tallest of which, is actually not in the north loop, but situated next to KMBC and would be 800ft to the roof and 900ft to the spire.
The colors represent their use, the bases of all the buildings would house retail, but it's to show the majority of uses.
Blue represents office/commercial
Green represents residential
Yellow represents mixed uses (hotel, residential, commercial, shopping)


This could reflect a period of 10-20 years or more, not only for demand, but also to reflect more periods of architecture and would have this master plan, similar to how Crown Center and the Plaza have master plans. The total residential units would be somewhere between 2,000 and 3,500.

The only buildings to be demolished would be the glass box and garage on Main, and the office building next to Commerce Tower. Along with a couple tiny structures on the parking lots.

Main and Delaware would also be split off and the junction would be reconstructed with a 10-15 floor hotel/residential building on the site of the Westgate and Kay buildings.

Anyone else have ideas for this area of Downtown?

[TheBigChuckbowski]

better pedestrian connections between the loop and river market.

[KCFan]

Interesting idea.  I'd like to see a space saved in the North loop for a downtown stadium in 20-25 years.  Also, I'd either like to see I-70 covered or eliminated.

[Tosspot]

Interesting idea.  I'd like to see a space saved in the North loop for a downtown stadium in 20-25 years. 

The same thing happened with the south loop; allowing it to sit in limbo for two decades with the hope of a megaproject being dropped from the sky, instead of allowing natural economic forces to take care of the issue. Don't get me wrong, I am a proponent of downtown baseball, but not if we have to let parts of downtown to recede into oblivion, disrepair, and decay first.

[ShowMeKC]

Does anyone think we could start to cause an urban explosion in Kansas City?  Looking at the speed of suburbanization in the last 50 years, would it be possible to do the same, if not better for reurbanization?

A thing that could work in KC's favor is to start to become the ethanol center of the United States. It would bring a ton of money not only for food, but also fuel. Looking at places like the Middle East, and other oil centers that are booming, could we get a lot of wealth from the alternative fuel industry?

[KC-wildcat]

A thing that could work in KC's favor is to start to become the ethanol center of the United States. It would bring a ton of money not only for food, but also fuel. Looking at places like the Middle East, and other oil centers that are booming, could we get a lot of wealth from the alternative fuel industry?

I don't understand your theory.  American Ethanol is going to play a larger role in satisfying the world's energy demands, but I guess I just don't see how KC becomes the center of this.  Nor do I see how "the city" would benefit from farmers in the midwest growing more corn to produce ethanol.  And the ethanol industry will never be as big as the oil industry.  By the time ethanol becomes a vaible enough resource to even compete with oil, hundreds of other alternate sources of energy will have arrived and taken hold in the industry. 

Assuming Ethanol were king, how would Kansas City just "start to become the ethanol center of the United States."  The UAE and other regional powers exploite government controlled oil fields for their huge economic growth.  In America, our fields and crops (spanning the entire United States) are owned and operated by private individuals and corporations.   

[KCFan]

The same thing happened with the south loop; allowing it to sit in limbo for two decades with the hope of a megaproject being dropped from the sky, instead of allowing natural economic forces to take care of the issue. Don't get me wrong, I am a proponent of downtown baseball, but not if we have to let parts of downtown to recede into oblivion, disrepair, and decay first.

I wasn't suggesting letting things decay.  There's a big area in the north loop that's surface parking lots.  Instead of allowing new construction on those lots, I'm saying to save that spot for a stadium, or plan new construction in the area around the idea a stadium will be built there.  Consider it masterplanning.

[phuqueue]

I wasn't suggesting letting things decay.  There's a big area in the north loop that's surface parking lots.  Instead of allowing new construction on those lots, I'm saying to save that spot for a stadium, or plan new construction in the area around the idea a stadium will be built there.  Consider it masterplanning.

You're talking about keeping a huge area vacant for the next several decades so that the Royals can eventually move there maybe, if they choose to.  Makes much more sense to just let development run its course and cross the stadium bridge when you come to it.  If you want to build a new stadium downtown when the TSC leases expire, you should worry about that when it actually happens.  How exactly are you gonna sell people on the idea of building up around a giant vacant lot, anyway?  "You should build here.  There might be a baseball stadium in 30 years."

[ShowMeKC]

Well wildcat, one thing, is that agricultural areas thrive because of cities. Another is that we are one of the only major cities in the Great Plains area, and the largest of all of them. Also, corn, maize, etc... may be produced by private individuals, but the ethanol could be extracted by larger companies, and the additional goods distributed by a larger company.

We are still somewhat of a rail center, and a trucking center, not to mention having an international airport that could expand in the future. Having some companies based on manufacturing and distributing ethanol, corn, etc... in Kansas City would bring jobs and money to the area.

[CyDanny]

Hopefully we get permission from Nashville to copy their Bellsouth Tower like that yellow tower on the right side of the picture. 

[KC-wildcat]

Well wildcat, one thing, is that agricultural areas thrive because of cities. Another is that we are one of the only major cities in the Great Plains area, and the largest of all of them. Also, corn, maize, etc... may be produced by private individuals, but the ethanol could be extracted by larger companies, and the additional goods distributed by a larger company.

We are still somewhat of a rail center, and a trucking center, not to mention having an international airport that could expand in the future. Having some companies based on manufacturing and distributing ethanol, corn, etc... in Kansas City would bring jobs and money to the area.

This makes sense.  I think, however, that this will depend on how serious the government is about delopment in this area of policy.  Without the subsidies, producers won't grow the corn.  The corn that is being grown currently is for consumption, not energy. 

[K.C.Highrise]

Wrong 15% of last years corn crop went to ethanol. We now have more corn planted since 1944 in the US.

[KCMax]

I'd love to see this happen, in fact, it should become the next priority along with the River Market/Berkeley Park/Columbus Park/Northeast. I agree that greater connectivity with the River Market should be a priority, but I don't think its that huge an obstacle right now. If there were more retail, restaurants, bars, and living spaces between the two, I don't think the highway bridges would be a huge deal.

I also disagree with saving room for a downtown stadium. That's not happening for decades, and by then the landscape of Kansas City could be totally different. We can find a location then (I think it would be sweet to have one near 18th and Vine and really develop that as an urban entertainment district).

As long as Iowa hosts the first presidential caucus, they will always be the ethanol capital. Why? Government subsidies.

[HalcyonKC]

Columbus, Ohio recently completed a project to relink two neighborhoods divided by the 670 loop in that city.  The project is referred to as the "High Street Cap."

Google map image:
http://local.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=k&om ... 5,0.003353

This is a little more limited in scope than sketches I've seen for KC which suggest that one or both sides of the loop be completely capped.  The Columbus version just involves a single superwide bridge over the highway with street-fronting commercial space on either side, so people crossing the bridge aren't so aware of the divide they're passing over.

[ShowMeKC]

another model i put together:

[Sonfire]

I like how you restored the main-delaware junction.

[bbqboy]

Well wildcat, one thing, is that agricultural areas thrive because of cities. Another is that we are one of the only major cities in the Great Plains area, and the largest of all of them. Also, corn, maize, etc... may be produced by private individuals, but the ethanol could be extracted by larger companies, and the additional goods distributed by a larger company.

We are still somewhat of a rail center, and a trucking center, not to mention having an international airport that could expand in the future. Having some companies based on manufacturing and distributing ethanol, corn, etc... in Kansas City would bring jobs and money to the area.

What are you defining as the Great Plains?
When did Texas move?

[KCMax]

I've never considered Texas part of the Great Plains. I've thought of it as Mo, Kan, Iowa, Nebraska, and Okla.

[bbqboy]

Denver might actually qualify as the largest Great Plains metro.

[voltopt]

I like how you restored the main-delaware junction.

Sort of restored - in this model its about a block and a half further north than it used to be.
Still a nice move.