Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

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Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by FangKC »

The Northeast News reports that as part of the Paseo Gateway plan, the Chouteau Courts housing project, at 1220 Independence Avenue (at Tracy), will be demolished and the site redeveloped. However, the Housing Authority will not build a new low-income housing project on the site. The Housing Authority of Kansas City says the apartments are outdated. They were constructed in 1955, The replacement low-income housing units will be spread throughout the city.

http://northeastnews.net/pages/?p=9672

The site.

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The buildings.

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Last edited by FangKC on Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Chouteau Courts housing project to be demolished

Post by Stockton »

I've always thought this is a decent looking place for what and where it is - why demolish the complex? Why not rent it at market rate? What is the Paseo Gateway and what do they plan on building in the area, something more suburban?
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Re: Chouteau Courts housing project to be demolished

Post by FangKC »

I don't know why they don't sell the complex to Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences to use for student housing.

I don't know what HAKC means by "outdated." Certainly someone could renovate them. The exterior and roofs seem to be in decent shape.

The Paseo Gateway Transformation Plan is a project to improve the area around Independence Avenue and The Paseo by redeveloping it into a cohesive, walkable, mixed income neighborhood.
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by FangKC »

I'm posting the Paseo Gateway Transformation Plan Update from June, 2012.

Scroll through the pages to see some of the potential ideas for transforming the Paseo West neighborhood and the Paseo and Independence Avenue Corridors.

http://www.paseogateway.com/storage/Pas ... _Final.pdf
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by flyingember »

this would be a good place for some mid-rise towers.
page 19 looks to show this idea but not near dense enough

It's right along a planned phase 2 streetcar line. the city needs to help with the density of the area and that idea isn't doing it.

the example in the upper left of page 24 is a good model
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by FangKC »

I agree. It appears that they plan to make Admiral Boulevard a residential corridor. I would like to see some 8-10 story buildings.

I think the problem they have is parking. If you build too many stories, you have to also allow for more resident parking. Since some of the parcels along the south side of Admiral appear to just front it and not go deep into the block, they don't have enough space for parking.

I would do it a bit differently. I would put some parking underground where possible, and combine some blocks into a larger block, and put above grade parking garages in the interior of that bigger block surrounded by buildings. I would probably take out Tracy and Lydia streets between Independence and Admiral entirely.

Once Tracy is taken out, I would also level the grade of that hill to match surrounding blocks.

I would also preserve the old fire station, and move this historic old house on Tracy to a vacant lot in Pendleton Heights.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=39.105871,- ... 7,,0,-7.29

They also appear to have taken out this apartment building on Admiral. I would leave that building and renovate it.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=39.105413,- ... 1,,0,-6.09

I think the City should designate the entire West Paseo neighborhood a redevelopment zone at some point in the future--probably after the East Village is done, and perhaps after the East Crossroads gets developed. The boundaries would be I-35 east to Woodland, and from I-70 north of Independence Avenue and I-35/29. Many of the industrial buildings should be relocated and perhaps a historic overlay put in place that protects some historic building stock--like the apartment buildings along Paseo, the old Unity Church, the Masonic Temple, the old Synagogue building, the Arts Asylum/Covenant Church, and the building Weird Antiques is in.

I would advocate a lot of denser residential housing be built, and a mix of commerical. biosciences, research spaces, and university-related buildings placed there.

If Kansas City were to create a respected university, I think Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences might be a good candidate for expansion. It's close to downtown, and there is are a lot of existing buildings and vacant parcels in the adjacent neighborhood south of Independence Avenue that could be taken over by a university expansion. It has good freeway access as well. For these reasons, and the fact there is so much space to develop around there, you wouldn't have the problems growing a university in the way that UMKC and Rockhurst have had in their own neighborhood with expansion. There is a lot of cheap housing nearby on bus lines as well for those who want to live off-campus. A university population would certainly help retail along the western end of Independence Avenue from Chestnut to Forest.

The Housing Authority projects around there could be sold to the University and made into student housing.
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by flyingember »

don't forget the idea of putting parking below housing. 3 stories of parking below + 5 stories of residential above + shops fronting the major street isn't uncommon.
you can build denser that way and use the parking space for green space

the other part of that is allowed for secured parking. in a "bad" part of town being able to provide key carded parking would help expand the downtown population to the east. this would also make using transit better if ones car is secured

sure, it costs more, but the city can't afford to rebuild less dense, especially in an area it wants to drive density in
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

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application for locally-programmed federal funds: http://www.marc2.org/tr-call/projectdet ... px?PID=478
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by FangKC »

Community updated on Paseo Gateway

http://northeastnews.net/pages/?p=26885

Here is a map of the area that will be redeveloped under the Paseo Gateway plan.

http://paseogateway.squarespace.com/sto ... educed.pdf

It's a large area. This plan doesn't just mean demolition of the Chouteau Courts housing project. It's demolition of the three motels on the north end of Paseo. I would hope they would remove the gas station on Paseo/Admiral as well. It may hopefully also get the retail buildings renovated at the intersection of Independence and Prospect avenues. Hopefully, it will mean purchase of many rental houses in the neighborhood to the northeast and renovation of those, plus infill of single family house on vacant lots.

Brinshore Development is one of the development partners in the plan. Here are images from some of the other projects they've done.

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Infill houses

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Brinshore Development also does rehabs of abandoned buildings. Hopefully, they will include the old fire station in their plans.

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This abandoned house was renovated.

Before:

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After:

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Last edited by FangKC on Thu Jan 29, 2015 4:15 am, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by FangKC »

Kansas City hopes to replace deteriorating Chouteau Courts housing project
The Housing Authority says it will meet a Feb. 9 deadline to apply for what’s called a Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant. Kansas City is expected to be one of more than 30 applicants competing for what may be three or four grants.

If the grant application is successful, it could mean about $30 million, with about two-thirds going for housing and the rest for education, economic development and other neighborhood improvements.

Finalists may be announced this summer; site visits would follow. Kansas City officials hope winners will be announced by November, with the grant funds available beginning in 2016.

City officials acknowledge winning could be a long shot. But Mouton said there’s reason for optimism. Kansas City was one of about 17 cities that won a Choice Neighborhoods planning grant in 2011, out of nearly 120 applicants. Those planning grants are seen as a preface to actual implementation grants.

...

n addition, Mouton and others said no regional city has yet won an actual Choice Neighborhoods implementation grant, so Kansas City is well-positioned to try to be the first. It is working with Brinshore Development of Chicago, which Monroe described as one of the country’s top public housing master developers.

Brinshore CEO David Brint said advantages in Kansas City’s favor are that the designated district has beautiful and historic housing stock as well as institutions such as the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences that can help the area grow and thrive.

He said plans call for replacing Chouteau Courts’ 134 units with 350 to 400 mixed-income housing units, so the availability of good-quality housing in the area would increase.

Brint said many residents may be relocated to scattered sites in the designated district, but those wishing to move to the Northland also would have that option.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/governme ... 21588.html
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

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Supporters say the plan not only would end the mistaken 1960s-era practice of concentrating hundreds of low-income families in the Chouteau Courts apartments, just northwest of Independence Avenue and the Paseo, but also would help nearby residents, schools, businesses and community organizations.

“It’s going to be a game changer for this corridor,” Kansas City Housing Authority board chairman Donovan Mouton said.
Huh. Mouton backed HUD when they argued the opposite - that it was essentially fine to concentrate hundreds of low-income residents in a single building - during the recent thing the city had with the Bainbridge on Armour.
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by DaveKCMO »

2016-17 PIAC funding was recommended for this project. has a good chance of succeeding since it's leveraging federal funds.
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by Eon Blue »

Also noteworthy: site clearance has begun for the new development at the southeast corner of Admiral & Troost. (I wasn't able to find a separate thread for that project.)
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by loftguy »

Eon Blue wrote:Also noteworthy: site clearance has begun for the new development at the southeast corner of Admiral & Troost. (I wasn't able to find a separate thread for that project.)
That is to be the Rosehill Townhomes.

A project led by ReStart, the townhomes are designed to resemble the multifamily of Quality Hill.

They were originally planned to be 33 units, though that is perhaps reduced now.

The apartments are intended to be transitional housing for homeless families headed by single parent households.
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by Eon Blue »

Thanks. I couldn't recall the name of the project or find a thread for it.
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by FangKC »

Here is the thread where they are announced.

http://kcrag.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1 ... &start=260
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by FangKC »

New posts on the Old Northeast Facebook page show some new images of residential housing plans for the Paseo Gateway neighborhood. The poster also mentioned that the Royale Inn motel will be the next to be demolished. Apologies for the bad scans. It appears these were taken from printed material at a recent neighborhood HUD meeting, and they don't appear to be online yet.

These new residential units are proposed for the the SE corner of E. 8th and Paseo, and the NW corner of E. 9th and Woodland.

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The sites today.

East 8th and Paseo site (looking SE).

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East 9th and Woodland site (looking NW).

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These images are of a renovation and redesign of the existing apartments on the east side of the 500 block of Brooklyn, and new residential units on the NE corner of Park Avenue and Independence Avenue.

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The sites today.

Existing apartments on the east side of the 500 block of Brooklyn.

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Park and Independence site (looking NE).

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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by FangKC »

I looked on the Paseo Gateway website and found an image of the Paseo and Independence Avenue intersection redesign proposal that I hadn't noticed before. The designers appear to have added a traffic circle just north of Independence Avenue to redirect traffic in a different way.

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The intersection now.

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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by TheBigChuckbowski »

I mean, that traffic circle is better than what's there now but it's still an on/off ramp for a highway. Do people really want to use a park with that going right through the middle of it and the highway next to it?

Kessler Park is huge. The area is not lacking for parkland. Why not open it up to development of some kind?
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Re: Chouteau Courts to be demolished / Paseo Gateway Plan

Post by FangKC »

Belvidire Park is a wasteland anyway. They should take it out of the park system (although a city vote is required to do that) and replace the park acreage elsewhere. One way to do that would be to put in several smaller parks--to replace the acreage--in the greater Paseo West neighborhood to serve residents in any new residential housing.

Then I would repackage that whole area north of Independence Avenue in one big development parcel, and attempt to attract a larger employer there--or grouping of employers. Use the lower grade triangle fronting the Paseo ramp and the freeway as a place to build a parking garage to serve the office building. It could also become commuter parking for the neighborhood if other commercial is developed. One could also put some retail along Independence Avenue between Forest and Paseo. It's not a very attractive site to build a lot of residential since it fronts highway ramps and the freeway. One could put residential deeper into the neighborhood to the south.
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