Crown Center: urban disaster, shining star, or in-between

[flyingember]

Two data points: I asked where the sterling giftware was -- no longer stocked. .

sterling tableware? you told me why they don't stock it anymore with those two words

people don't buy forks they need an insurance policy on

[rxlexi]

Checked out the new Hall's "on Grand" last weekend. I love the idea of consolidating Hall's downtown, in Crown Center. Execution leaves a bit to be desired though, IMO. Nice finishes are used throughout (white tile floors are beautiful), there's some pretty art on the walls, and the displays of unique kitschy items in the "Bridge" area were very cool. Speaking of the "Bridge" aka old skywalk, it's got a great view out to the square and skyline beyond; good job thinking to punch those windows out to bring in natural light and city views.

However, the store is rather disjointed, laid out as it across multiple sections of the third floor, and to me felt smaller and more empty than the Plaza store, and certainly the old CC store. The random closed doors to the old Hall's 3rd floor (across from the Bridge) look strange and sad. The "rest" of CC becomes an issue to me with Hall's there; it really needs some updates, and having a huge chunk of Hall's store look out on Crayola Cafe, etc., it loses a little luster (popular though that and other spots may be with families). There is no longer a truly dignified entrance; it's from the dark parking garage or up from kiddie spots and old carpet in the rest of Crown Center. Wish the renovated Hallmark in CC was an HMK. Wish Hall's still had the cool little candy section, and more semi-affordable home goods, unless I missed these.

Still, I'm super excited to return around Xmas as the Union Station/CC combo will be even more amazing with Hall's ornaments and decorations. Hope the rest of CC mall continues to see investment. Hope Hall's does well; wish it had been done just a bit differently but so happy to see them in a bright and shiny new home all the same.

[Eon Blue]

Function Junction is still there, if that's what you're talking about. I forget to which floor, but it was moved to accommodate the Halls renovation.

[cknab1]

2nd floor at the bottom of the escalators, where the book store used to be. Next to Chips Chocolate Factory. They have a great space, as does Shang's Tea and Jade shop.

[smh]

Function Junction is still there, if that's what you're talking about. I forget to which floor, but it was moved to accommodate the Halls renovation.

What's your function?

[IraGlacialis]

As many may have seen mentioned on Antiques Roadshow, Halls used to sell fine art and continued to sell vintage decorative art or "antiques" up until Halls Plaza closed, mixed in with the new merchandise and often described on handwritten labels in some detail. Some of these items were purchased directly by the Hall family in England and NYC. None of this remains -- a big disappointment to me. Instead we have a sorry corner full of MacKenzie-Childs crap like a bad 1980s nightmare.

That's a pity.
Even if they may have been out of the reach of mere mortals, the antique tableware section of the Plaza Halls was always nice to go through and look at; could have at least had them as decoration pieces.
I do hope it's just a case of the store needing to fill in a bit.

[kcjak]

They've started digging up the ground behind the fountains near the Grand St entrance for Spin Pizza patio.

[chaglang]

Milano's update: still dingy.

[PumpkinStalker]

Milano's update: still dingy.

Not possible!! The description on Sheraton's website says you can relax in leather chairs surrounded by a rustic brick floor and modern blonde wood accents with all the ambiance of the 49 Crown Center fountain jets!

One of you is not telling the truth here!

[chaglang]

Are there renderings of the Spin patio? My only concern would be if there was some sort of permanent canopy over it. That could really muck up the front of that building, which is very nice in its simplicity, Milano's and that tacky tube steel entrance canopy notwithstanding.

[earthling]

San Francisco law firm moving 275 admin jobs from 30+ offices around country to Crown Center....

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n ... 1420836228

"We looked at virtually every major U.S. city in the Central and Mountain time zones, as well as San Francisco," said Tom Bender, co-president and co-managing partner. "It was an exhaustive process. What drove it a lot was client service. What's the best way to do it. And we got to Kansas City, and (we liked) the supply, the quality, the diversity of the work force, the fact that it is a Central time zone and our offices are spread across the entire U.S. The cost structure was something else to consider, but those other factors really gave Kansas City the edge."

This is the second law firm from SF that recently moved its back office jobs to KC (and in same building). That was 100 jobs.

[KCMax]

Spin opens tomorrow

http://www.pitch.com/FastPitch/archives ... n-thursday

[DaveKCMO]

Spin opens tomorrow

http://www.pitch.com/FastPitch/archives ... n-thursday

went for lunch on opening day. they handled the crowd very capably. a very nice addition to the lower level.

[JLowe2018]

Was wondering if this is ever going to come to fruition. This is the master plan for the southern development of Crown Center. Got it from the is website: http://www.goodyclancy.com/projects/cro ... tion-plan/







Plenty of other renderings at the website. Apparently this full build out would include a new park, 2000+ housing units, 700,000 SF of retail and office space, and fill in eight vacant blocks. This would bring a completely new life to Crown Center. I could see at least part of this happening with the eventual streetcar expansion down Main.

[FangKC]

Yes, those renderings have been floating around for awhile, and I think have been posted on this very thread before.

I imagine it's part of a long-term plan for Crown Center to develop their remaining parcels. I have no insight when that will be. I assume they are watching the build-out of new apartments on Union Hill to see how quickly they fill up.

It will be interesting to see if the developer of the apartments on Union Hill buys some of the Crown Center-owned parcels along Gillham and McGee Trafficway south of the 27th Street, and develops them on his own, OR, if Crown Center will hold on to them and develop their vision.

I would think that Crown Center would want to control how the parcels are developed--seeing that it would affect their existing properties.

I can't see how building new rental apartments along Gillham and McGee would be that much of a risk for Crown Center--given the demand for downtown apartments. I would think having more residents living on-site would help their retail operations as well.

I think it goes without saying that Crown Center has been very conservative building new residential. I don't think they have built any new residential since the 1970s. The San Francisco tower was completed in 1976, according to Emporis, and Santa Fe Place was finished in 1972. There is a second residential tower on the books called San Francisco Tower II that remains unbuilt.

San Francisco Tower, Crown Center



Santa Fe Place, Crown Center

[earthling]

Given that Hallmark/greeting card industry isn't exactly a forward moving future industry, maybe they should look for someone with big bucks to partner with to develop the rest of the CC complex. Office space still not exactly in demand downtown so residential may be the way to go - at first.

[beautyfromashes]

I think you might start seeing increased energy from developers, including Crown Center, when we get close to incentives for development appear they are coming to an end. A project now getting 25 years of full tax abatement will be a much better buy than one in the near future not receiving these incentives with particularly wealthy buyers wanting the tax shelter. The city should start using the fear of drying up incentives as much as they did the actual incentives several years ago. These holding developments need a push.

[KCtoBrooklyn]

It will be interesting to see if the developer of the apartments on Union Hill buys some of the Crown Center-owned parcels along Gillham and McGee Trafficway south of the 27th Street, and develops them on his own, OR, if Crown Center will hold on to them and develop their vision.

Union Hill Developer Bob Frye was quoted in an article saying that he wants to keep developing in nearby areas, but is having difficulty acquiring any land as the owners are just sitting on their parcels. I think there is a good chance he was talking about Hallmark. Could also possibly be KCPT and KCTV which own some vacant lots on 31st St.

[kboish]

I was looking at the 31st street area the other day on the Parcel viewer and it looks like the people who own the cleaning/laundry business own a large chunk of the blocks surrounding their business on 31st east of Gilham. Those blocks seem like they're just ripe to get DIY tenants in there and to start turning them into a vibrant area.

[moderne]

The Union Hill model shows their buildings eventually occupying those southernmost 2 blocks on either side of McGee that are also shown on the CC plan.