Polsinelli Shughart HQ @ West Edge

[chrizow]

PS tearing down the West Edge building to construct a 9-story office building. They will be preserving the existing West Edge garage. Sounds good to me.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/29/31 ... e-for.html

[KCMax]

The unfinished, 134-room boutique hotel that’s part of the project across from the office building will remain, as will a 940-space garage beneath the development. Developers are confident the hotel will find a quality operator now that the office situation has been resolved.

That's good, but from what I understand, the controls for things like HVAC for the hotel are located inside the office building, one of the big reasons the two were so hard to sell individually rather than as a package. What a huge clusterf...glad they finally got it resolved. Win-win for everyone I guess.

[shinatoo]

These guys have a hard on for knocking down a building don't they. I'm good with this plan, and the nice hotel next door can't hurt for loving up their client base.

[KC-wildcat]

and the nice hotel next door can't hurt for loving up their client base.

So the hotel portion of the original West Edge project will remain? Only the office building will be demoed?

[shinatoo]

and the nice hotel next door can't hurt for loving up their client base.

So the hotel portion of the original West Edge project will remain? Only the office building will be demoed?

Correct.

[KCPowercat]

Probably the best solution for all involved. Glad to have west edge resolved.

[FangKC]

Biz Journal article on P&S and demolition.

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n ... l?page=all

[xorg]

i don't see how this can be completed by 2013 if it also involves a piece by piece teardown. i smell trouble down the road. also odd they are only adding one more floor than needed. there's a good chance they'll have more mergers in the future. seems downtown would've been the least path of resistance. they must really want to stay on the plaza.

[KCMax]

RockhillStrat Jon Stephens

Will #AMC Theatres now choose Valencia II as new HQ? #KC #Plaza #realestate

[zonk]

Way to go PS! Great move...! But who is designing this crap? Once again, the initial rendering looks like shit. I'm hoping the final design is better. This is a great opportunity to get get something unique...vs. the West Edge dormatory/prison look.

BTW....wonder if they will keep the "West Edge" moniker?

[KCMax]

The rendering shows a revamped intersection. With the new traffic I'm guessing that will be a priority.

[GRID]

Sounds like a plan, although it's pretty wild they have to tear down a concrete structure and are throwing up a cheap steel box wrapped in glass. It will take them longer to tear down all that concrete than it will to throw up that corporate woods looking building. Better than an abandoned construction project I guess, but I'm just amazed that there was no way to finish that building and lease it out, regardless of how unique the design is.

But looking at the pic, why doesn't the hotel have any windows facing the street (or plaza for that matter)? And what is the round building behind the hotel? Will that stay?

[KC-wildcat]

"It will be replaced with a more conventional nine-story glass office tower designed by 360 Architecture."

Oh boy. Warm up the tractor, Save the Plaza. Let's get to work.


In all seriousness, though, a conventional glass tower in that location is concerning to me. Modern glass office building tucked amongst historic brick residential buildings. Seems like a giant middle finger to the history of poet's corner and the beautiful brown stones in that neighborhood.

Maybe the rendering is just another FAIL job.

[zonk]

The round building is part of the hotel. Curved rooms line a interior atrium. It's pretty cool space.

[beautyfromashes]

I hate this plan! How can that building not be turned into something useful? It seems like we are wasting more money in this city tearing things down than building anything good.

[KCMax]

[aknowledgeableperson]

I hate this plan! How can that building not be turned into something useful? It seems like we are wasting more money in this city tearing things down than building anything good.

Seems they can demolish and build what they want to build cheaper (I think by $10M) than to finish out what was originally built.

[KCMax]

I hate this plan! How can that building not be turned into something useful? It seems like we are wasting more money in this city tearing things down than building anything good.

From what I have heard it was just terribly designed and built in the first place.

[mudjack]

The whole process has been a huge waste of money, but I can only shed a few tears for the loss of such an ugly building.

[KCMax]

But Steve Rose told me that JoCo was a magical place that businesses would want to flock to? How did they not land Polsinelli Shughart?