KCRag Forum

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/25/37 ... mixed.html

BOOM.

finally!

30K-sq ft WF store with 150 apartments above it!

and once again vicki noteis, former city planner, is complaining about it just as she complained about the apartment buildings going into the empty lot at 51/Main. what is her problem? mixed-use, urban-scale development taking the place of parking lots or vacant lots? yes, please!

This is welcome news! Seriously, this project has been rumored for so long I figured there was no way it would ever become a reality. Think how many gallons of gas this will save for Kansas Citians!

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pash wrote:Hell yeah.

Some people just don't like apartment buildings. They feel like it degrades their leafy neighborhood or something, I don't know. ...

i guess so, but i would think that a brand new apartment building and an excellent grocery store is an "upgrade" to the 'hood compared to a weedy lot or a huge UMKC parking lot.

chrizow wrote:

pash wrote:Hell yeah.

Some people just don't like apartment buildings. They feel like it degrades their leafy neighborhood or something, I don't know. ...

i guess so, but i would think that a brand new apartment building and an excellent grocery store is an "upgrade" to the 'hood compared to a weedy lot or a huge UMKC parking lot.

I think people don't understand that we aren't after their single-family homes. We just want to in-fill around the intersections to provide more residents and living options and thus make the single-family homes more desirable because of their hip walkable location. Something like that. Also, it's possible this lady is just a naysayer. I hate naysayers.

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Expect a barrage of attacks from Brookside/S Plaza locatarian purists.

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wow. this is great. incredible momentum in south plaza.

Incredible momentum across the city core. There have been a lot of development announcements last couple months. You could blame the economy for the lull last 5 years but I'm going to put all the blame on Funk - 100% of it. He was not only a worthless mayor, he scared away developers and practically told them to fuk off.

there is no valid argument against this. no historic buildings are being destroyed. no umkc parking is being taken away (the article states the new cherry st garage was designed to absorb the anticipated lost parking spaces to the WF store). hell, they are MOVING the one historic building in the area. sure there will need to be a new ingress/egress point on Brookside Blvd, but is that so difficult?

there will be increased traffic to an extent, but i am sure that the 4-lane BKS Blvd can handle it. even during rush hour traffic moves on BKS at 40 mph, so i dont think there is a capacity issue.

people on the Star website are complaining that the egress point will disrupt the trolley track trail. this is a stupid argument - the trolley track trail is "disrupted" in probably 12 different places along its path, including the very busy and locally revered BKS Shops area where trolley trackers have to play "frogger" near the Roasterie and through the parking lot and across 63rd.

anyone who lives in the 51/Main and 51/BKS area who did not see the writing on the wall with new development coming is a moron. who can seriously complain about being able to walk to a really great grocery store?

chrizow wrote: who can seriously complain about being able to walk to a really great grocery store?

The schmucks still living in yesteryear. This is excellent news! Combined with the plans for the conservatory, UMKC is really pushing to transition into a more urban-oriented university.

chrizow wrote:

Link. Please.

the rendering is from the kc star article webpage.

I'm glad they're finally getting this thing off the ground. It's going to solidify the last open stretch of Oak between Brush Creek and the vacant lot on the SW corner of 63rd. In Noteis's defense, her complaint was about traffic, which I think is fair. Oak is already a complete cf at 51st, especially when university employees are coming or going from work. At a minimum, those fancy LED stop signs are going to have to go and lights will have to go in. And maybe throw in a crossing guard for the UMKC students.

The concerns about the Trolley Track are dumber, IMHO.

awesome, great development, go KCMO!

The location is a good choice for Whole Foods entry into KCMO. The high-density residential above the grocery store is what I've been calling for in many other posts. I hope that developers see the wisdom of putting residential over grocery stores, and implement this idea in other places--especially senior housing. The parking garage is wrapped by the store and apartments. Another positive element.

I don't understand this obsession with increased traffic. Kansas City does not have a traffic problem anywhere in the metro. Our commute times are among the shortest in the USA. Traffic is a good thing. It' means that people are going to jobs, and buying things.

That city planner is out of her mind. This is what central cities are about. Again I will state it, if local residents and taxpayers want to keep their property and sales taxes low, they will welcome any denser residential development that increases the resident population south of the river. While the City population is stable overall, it's not south of the river. Since most of our infastructure is there, we desperately need to rebuild that population.

It's not only empty houses on the East Side. There are also a lot of vacant apartment buildings around the city that need the be replaced. The new apartments need to be built in the most desirable places so that we can offer choices to people who will consider moving back into the City.

I'm curious to see how it'll exit onto Brookside.