Andrews McMeel Publishing to Boley Bldg.

[FangKC]

Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 4:28 PM CDT

KC Council OKs Andrews McMeel's TIF request

Kansas City Business Journal

The Kansas City Council on Thursday unanimously approved Andrews McMeel Universal's tax increment financing request to move to Downtown.

Mayor Mark Funkhouser said the financing plan complies with improved accountability for incentives he had sought in a new policy the City Council passed in August. AMU's TIF request was the first of its kind to reach the council under the policy.

AMU's TIF reimbursement will cover a quarter of the newspaper content provider's $19 million budget with public money.

The agreement includes clawbacks requiring AMU to return earnings taxes to the city if the company falls short of projected employment. AMU also agreed to a $4.8 million limit on its public reimbursement.

To gain support from the Kansas City, Mo., School District, which will give up all new property taxes generated by the project for 23 years, AMU will start an internship program for students and make payments to the district. Details of the pact are secret.

Councilman Russ Johnson said the approval shows that "Kansas City is open for business."

"If you want economic development incentives from Kansas City and you've got the right package, let's take a look," he said.

AMU plans to buy the Boley Building, 1130 Walnut St., and lease adjacent space in the Town Pavilion. The company expects to move 200 employees from leased space at 4520 Main St., near the Country Club Plaza, in the spring of 2008.

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/s ... l?ana=e_du

[DaveKCMO]

i'm still amazed at what a "win-win" this is!

[lock+load]

I'm still amazed what a joke Funk's new policy is.  This deal was not much different than the others we've seen.  Glad to see them coming DT, but I don't see that the policy really accomplished much.

[DaveKCMO]

I'm still amazed what a joke Funk's new policy is.  This deal was not much different than the others we've seen.  Glad to see them coming DT, but I don't see that the policy really accomplished much.

first, it's the city's new policy... the whole council approved it and a task force created it. regardless, it is no less rigid than any other area muncipality. and when was the last time you saw a TIF discussed so openly before it was approved and with good reasons after it is unanimously approved? time will tell whether the new council will continue the same level of transparency and frank discussion.

[mean]

I'm still amazed what a joke Funk's new policy is.  This deal was not much different than the others we've seen.  Glad to see them coming DT, but I don't see that the policy really accomplished much.

Whatever. The clawback forced by the policy is more accountability than any other previous TIF has had.

Mark my words: if the policy had been so strict as to completely shut out any possibility that this would get done, the shit would have really hit the fan.

[GRID]

Bottom line is this:

Funk is caving and going with the flow.  As I stated all along, he used the tif scare tactic to get into office.

Once in, he will see how difficult it is for Downtown KCMO to compete against the suburbs and its own sections of the city and do what he is pressed to do and really what he has to do to maintain investment in the city.

Still, Andrewes McMeel has had their name in the paper on more than one occasion and not in a positive way.

Right now, I'm not sure why any business would be in the mood to take on a PR nightmare that would come with trying to move downtown and ask for the incentives needed to make it happen.

Yael needs somebody to rip, he "could" spend everyday ripping the burbs and what they do on a daily basis but he has this fetish with KCMO.

[KCPowercat]

first, it's the city's new policy... the whole council approved it and a task force created it. regardless, it is no less rigid than any other area muncipality. and when was the last time you saw a TIF discussed so openly before it was approved and with good reasons after it is unanimously approved? time will tell whether the new council will continue the same level of transparency and frank discussion.

I like the point system and more info getting out there...what I'm confused about is there a scoring system...say a project has to get 500 points before it's approved (under normal situations)....if not, it loses some meat...sure it's still nice to lay out more details but what is the decision making behind that?  without any scoring or logic, it's still a very judgmental process.

[KCDowntown]

I saw the first permit for this project go through today on KivaNet.  Hopefully, we will start to see some activity here soon.

KCDowntown

[FangKC]

Louis Curtiss is smiling somewhere.

[FangKC]

Andrews McMeel officially owns the Boley Building now.

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansa ... ily10.html

Monday, December 17, 2007

Andrews McMeel takes ownership of Boley Building

Kansas City Business Journal

Andrews McMeel Universal assumed ownership of the Boley Building in downtown Kansas City and will start renovations immediately to prepare it as the company's new headquarters.

In a release Monday, Kansas City-based Andrews McMeel said it has retained McCownGordon Construction and Helix Architecture + Design Inc.. to complete design work and construction in the building, 1130 Walnut St. Andrews McMeel said it expects to occupy the building in the fall of 2008, in time to celebrate the building's centennial.

[DaveKCMO]

they put up stuff in the windows over the weekend displaying all of their products. it certainly brightens up that corner! needless to say, the guy who runs cupini's is very excited.

[moderne]

Now when I give guests the DT architectural tours they will not be perplexed why such a significant structure is empty.

[FangKC]

Do you give official tours, or are you just leading friends around tellling them about buildings?

[DaveKCMO]

it was mentioned during the downtown CID presentation to the council yesterday that the oppenstein park improvements were a factor for choosing the boley building.

[FangKC]

They should commission a whimsical sculpture of one of their comic strip characters in the park.

Or maybe they should just commission a statue of brothel owner Annie Chambers.  Yeah, that's the ticket.

[PumpkinStalker]

Or maybe they should just commission a statue of brothel owner Annie Chambers.  Yeah, that's the ticket.

  This would be AWESOME!

[FangKC]

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/s ... l?ana=e_du

Thursday, January 31, 2008

McCownGordon starts renovating Boley Building

Kansas City Business Journal

McCownGordon Construction LLC has begun renovating the Boley Building for Andrews McMeel Universal's headquarters, the Kansas City-based contractor said Thursday.

The $19 million project is to be completed in September.

...

[Angel]

Nothing much going on besides the wrap on the first level, but I see lights on different floors each night and it looks like there are people inside during the day.

[DaveKCMO]

there is definitely work going on inside.

[trailerkid]

As reported by Collison in the Star. This building is now occupied.

Here are some construction pics of the interior from the awesome blog, Finding Form. The interiors look quite fantastic and contemporary.