OFFICIAL - Loews Convention Hotel (formerly Hyatt)

[NorthOak]

I hate to say this but I think we're going to get something similar to Baltimore's Hilton Convention Hotel.
It gets the job done but very boring. 800 rooms, L shaped, 20-25 floors .....
Someone said it's losing money.

[KCPowercat]

New hotels haven't been that exciting lately...The new Marriott Marquis in Houston is pretty blah past its bottom floor atrium

[earthling]

Will bring up again that the convention hotel should be a hotel/residential combo. When hotel biz is slow the residents continue to use its services, helping operations and the services are attractive to residents. It's generally a much less riskier model - and an opportunity for taller building. The challenge for KC is that it likely still needs parking garage space for residents, at least a good %.

[im2kull]

Really hoping these renderings are still preliminary and subject to (dramatic) change.

The original high-rise placeholder design was so much more appealing, more modern, less cheap.

The energy this brings to downtown will be appreciated either way, but given how little new construction of this scale happens in DTKC I'd love to see a more dramatic gesture.

Same

[normalthings]

Will bring up again that the convention hotel should be a hotel/residential combo. When hotel biz is slow the residents continue to use its services, helping operations and the services are attractive to residents. It's generally a much less riskier model - and an opportunity for taller building. The challenge for KC is that it likely still needs parking garage space for residents, at least a good %.

From what little information we have, this is the plan for 4 Light.

[KCPowercat]

Design is up on the development tracker....Pedestrian experience on 16th is less than ideal based in the perspective views....Nobody will be walking around the performing arts center anyways right?

http://maps.kcmo.org/kcgis/rest/service ... ments/8008

Rendering as also been posted on kansascity.com ....It hasn't been sexified at all.

[KCPowercat]

Why didn't they flip flop the parking garage/meeting space and tower elements? Having the hotel pieces (lobby and restaurant) facing 16th and having a blank wall parking garage facing 670 where there is already no sidewalk or reason for there to be one seems to make more sense...

[normalthings]

not once 670 gets capped

[KCPowercat]

True but not sure this block would ever even get the cap ....I think it would start on Baltimore going east

[im2kull]

Why didn't they flip flop the parking garage/meeting space and tower elements? Having the hotel pieces (lobby and restaurant) facing 16th and having a blank wall parking garage facing 670 where there is already no sidewalk or reason for there to be one seems to make more sense...

According to the plans and drawings there will be a tree lined road scape that they'll create along that part of the building. I'm all for it. Lower height helps keep the skyline the way it is, with additional fill in the form of visual stepping. I like the original plan better of course, but there could be far worse designs being thrown around.

[KCPowercat]

Trees don't fix a bad building design

[joshmv]

Well, that design is poop, but it could be somewhat saved if they used the right materials, glass, and lighting.

This has probably been mentioned, but I like what Cooper Carry did with the Hyatt in Baltimore even without a super exciting design.

[Critical_Mass]

from the PDF:

[FangKC]

The Baltimore side is going to suck. I think the main entrance to the hotel should have been on Baltimore, and the garage entrance/exit, loading docks, on Central. That block of Central is a bad pedestrian street anyway.

It's too bad they don't have the budget to excavate the limestone out on the Central side of the block, and then put the garage primarily on that side, then the Baltimore side could have been the lobby, and retail.

[miz.jordan17]

From a functional perspective, I still think the building is good and will serve it's purpose well. It will be a very nice hotel, and I'm sure it will be an asset that helps more people bring conventions and events to our city, among other improvements. On a side note, I looked at the architectural plans, and it looks like depending on which street you're on, the height of the building will be between 221-258 feet tall. Not a bad overall design, considering there's a parking lot there now and it had to be value-engineered.

[normalthings]

Development Tracker notes 800,000 non-residential sqft for this project.
Also notes 427 "Dwelling Units" in this project. Is this some sort of apartment addition or such?

[JBmidtown]

I disagree with the prevailing opinion that this looks like a hospital...

...no, it definitely looks more like an office tower in Corporate Woods.

[KCLover]

I disagree with the prevailing opinion that this looks like a hospital...

...no, it definitely looks more like an office tower in Corporate Woods.

While we are on the same page, the Sheraton in Overland Park looks better than this heap of crap.

[beautyfromashes]

Meh.

[KCPowercat]

from the PDF:

That entrance would have looked really nice at 16th & Baltimore instead of Truman and Baltimore...but instead this lovely facade will greet people leaving the PAC




Could have really made a cool pairing with the Bartle ballroom greenspace.