OFFICIAL - The Continental Apartments (former Mark Twain Tower)

Issues concerning Downtown as described by the Downtown Council. River to 31st Street, I-35 to Bruce R. Watkins.
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grovester
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Re: OFFICIAL - The Continental Apartments (former Mark Twain Tower)

Post by grovester »

Can't believe I posted that, the whole thing is ridiculous.
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chaglang
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Re: OFFICIAL - The Continental Apartments (former Mark Twain Tower)

Post by chaglang »

I think this is the 5th floor ballroom, The Sawyer Room:

Image
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Re: OFFICIAL - The Continental Apartments (former Mark Twain Tower)

Post by WSPanic »

chaglang wrote:I think this is the 5th floor ballroom, The Sawyer Room:

Image
I used to have a desk in relatively tasteful cubicle farm in that room. The acoustics weren't really great for office work.
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Re: OFFICIAL - The Continental Apartments (former Mark Twain Tower)

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Eon Blue
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Re: OFFICIAL - The Continental Apartments (former Mark Twain Tower)

Post by Eon Blue »

chaglang wrote:I think this is the 5th floor ballroom, The Sawyer Room:

Image
IDK, I look at that ballroom and think that it could be so much more...

http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2011/04 ... ng-garage/
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Re: OFFICIAL - The Continental Apartments (former Mark Twain Tower)

Post by FangKC »

I don't think they say anything about using historic tax credits in the EDC document.

If you don't use any historic tax credits in a renovation, even if the building is on the National Register, you don't have to adhere to restoration standards of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

However, if they alter the building too much, it could lose its' designation on the National Register.
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Re: OFFICIAL - The Continental Apartments (former Mark Twain Tower)

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Last edited by pash on Mon Feb 13, 2017 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: OFFICIAL - The Continental Apartments (former Mark Twain Tower)

Post by FangKC »

Just because someone applies through the EDC for subsidies doesn't mean the City will approve them.

I would hope the City Council would realize what hell would be raised if some developer put a redevelopment plan forth asking for subsidies that caused a listed building to lose its' historic status.

It's one thing if a developer does it with their own money. It's quite another thing if they are asking for subsidies to do it. The City can always say "no."

There are very few larger buildings left to redevelop downtown. That building is a prime candidate for residential, since demand is so high for that downtown. I would hope the City would realize this, and say no to any plan that caused a building to lose historic status.
Last edited by FangKC on Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:13 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: OFFICIAL - The Continental Apartments (former Mark Twain Tower)

Post by FangKC »

Mark Twain Tower, River Market projects seek abatements

http://tinyurl.com/pnwj2ju
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Re: Mark Twain Tower going residential?

Post by loftguy »

FangKC wrote:Loftguy will probably know.
Yep. This is a Gary Hassenflu proposal.
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Re: Mark Twain Tower going residential?

Post by lock+load »

Parking in the building is a terrible idea. Should be plenty in the garage next door.
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Re: Mark Twain Tower going residential?

Post by mgh7676 »

lock+load wrote:Parking in the building is a terrible idea. Should be plenty in the garage next door.
Would it be possible to just add levels to the garage next door? Parking seems to be such a huge issue for the Brookfield Building and the Mark Twain Tower...seems like a feasible idea to me.
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Re: Mark Twain Tower going residential?

Post by flyingember »

mgh7676 wrote:
lock+load wrote:Parking in the building is a terrible idea. Should be plenty in the garage next door.
Would it be possible to just add levels to the garage next door? Parking seems to be such a huge issue for the Brookfield Building and the Mark Twain Tower...seems like a feasible idea to me.
depends on how big the foundations and columns were built

it's doable with that if.
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Re: Mark Twain Tower going residential?

Post by Critical_Mass »

This proposal came about a week and a half too early...would have been a funny April Fool's gag.
What an absolutely terrible idea!
Latest biz journal article (http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n ... ml?ana=twt) mentions that it's actually 6 levels of parking with the entrance cut into the facade on the NE corner off Baltimore. That would be right next to the existing entrance to the neighboring parking garage and directly across from the Missouri Bank garage entrance, completing the ultimate pedestrian experience on both sides of Baltimore.
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Re: Mark Twain Tower going residential?

Post by lock+load »

This half baked plan does not warrant tax subsidies. Come back with a better plan.
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Re: Mark Twain Tower going residential?

Post by flyingember »

ha!
The parking would be accessed off of Baltimore Avenue through a new garage doorway cut into the northeast corner of the building, Reitzel said. He said a driveway would proceed from the entrance through what his now retail space occupied by Goodden Jewellers, with a circulation ramp allowing motorists to access higher levels.

"That's wonderful news," Rich Goodden said upon learning of the plan on Tuesday, but he didn't mean it.

Goodden said he moved his jewellery story to the Mark Twain Tower two years ago, has another eight years on his lease and likely won't give up the space without a legal challenge.
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Re: Mark Twain Tower going residential?

Post by KCPowercat »

Can the city help share parking in the garage that they supposedly can't get a long term deal with? Rick Usher was helping in the Cashew situation.
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Re: Mark Twain Tower going residential?

Post by FangKC »

The garage is owned by the Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority. I assume the garage was built in the first place to solve parking problems for neighboring property owners.

It would seem to me that certainly the City could help work out a deal, because the garage was built to solve this very problem.

I have a feeling that is not the problem. The problem is when a property owner wants to have dedicated parking spaces that they own, and that somehow makes luring tenants to their property more secure than just by renting spaces in a neighboring garage.
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Re: Mark Twain Tower going residential?

Post by FangKC »

Critical_Mass wrote:This proposal came about a week and a half too early...would have been a funny April Fool's gag.
What an absolutely terrible idea!
Latest biz journal article (http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n ... ml?ana=twt) mentions that it's actually 6 levels of parking with the entrance cut into the facade on the NE corner off Baltimore. That would be right next to the existing entrance to the neighboring parking garage and directly across from the Missouri Bank garage entrance, completing the ultimate pedestrian experience on both sides of Baltimore.
The article also mentions that Hassenflu might pursue historic tax credits. This will be interesting to watch seeing that he plans to rip out the interior of several floors and repurpose them as parking decks, as well as alter a part of the exterior facade to create an garage entrance.
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Re: Mark Twain Tower going residential?

Post by taxi »

FangKC wrote:
Critical_Mass wrote:This proposal came about a week and a half too early...would have been a funny April Fool's gag.
What an absolutely terrible idea!
Latest biz journal article (http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n ... ml?ana=twt) mentions that it's actually 6 levels of parking with the entrance cut into the facade on the NE corner off Baltimore. That would be right next to the existing entrance to the neighboring parking garage and directly across from the Missouri Bank garage entrance, completing the ultimate pedestrian experience on both sides of Baltimore.
The article also mentions that Hassenflu might pursue historic tax credits. This will be interesting to watch seeing that he plans to rip out the interior of several floors and repurpose them as parking decks, as well as alter a part of the exterior facade to create an garage entrance.
Perhaps he will only park historic cars in there.
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