KCRag Forum

ldai_phs wrote:I thought the current plaza owners operate a number of high end malls?

He/she is referring to CBL properties, who own Oak Park Mall.

Mall of America got a Walgreens know coming soon.

mgsports wrote:Mall of America got a Walgreens know coming soon.

If Mall of American can have a Walgreens, then the Plaza can have one! Plaza needs some roller coasters too.

WoodDraw wrote:

ldai_phs wrote:I thought the current plaza owners operate a number of high end malls?

He/she is referring to CBL properties, who own Oak Park Mall.

Thank-you for the clarification. I am not familiar with the names of all those firms.

mgsports wrote:Mall of America got a Walgreens know coming soon.

replacing Best Buy

Technically not because Walgreens going in a different space.

GRID wrote:

mgsports wrote:Mall of America got a Walgreens know coming soon.

If Mall of American can have a Walgreens, then the Plaza can have one! Plaza needs some roller coasters too.

Just add a couple of loops to the streetcar track

World's first inverted streetcar? You got my vote.

mgsports wrote:http://www.kansascity.com/news/business ... vlink=Lead

Hahaha. Wow.

as a side note, the plaza has also updated their website.

https://www.countryclubplaza.com/

Update on the Tudors. Also, it looks like the 4 story apartment building across the street, which has been very stop and go, is starting up work again.

Lots of dead trees on the Plaza. Looks like new management doesn't care to water. Makes things look even more tired and neglected.

seen same dead trees elsewhere and now wonder if the city got jiggy with throwing salt last year. it is not a good solution.

moderne wrote:Lots of dead trees on the Plaza. Looks like new management doesn't care to water. Makes things look even more tired and neglected.

One big one relates to temperature. In 1990 usda zone 5 reached almost to Branson. By 2012 that same zone doesn't cross the Missouri River. A tree needs to be hardier to handle the warmer temperatures we are seeing. If they don't water much that would contribute a ton.

Probably a combination of neglect around nutrients and watering, not enough space to grow inside the planting wells and temperatures going up over time

Kansas City is also down about 5 inches of moisture for the year. Many people are losing trees and landscaping because there wasn't enough moisture over the winter, and people didn't know they still needed to water to make it up. It's also been very hot early in the summer.

Young trees especially are vulnerable, and street trees are among the most vulnerable since they often aren't planted correctly to begin with. In many cases, there is not enough exposed soil around them to absorb rain, and they aren't being manually watered by Plaza management, or the City. With young trees, watering needs to be regularly, and it needs to be done long enough to allow a deep soak. That is not really practical. So the tree wells need to be redesigned and rebuilt.

Another problem often is that the very little square of exposed soil is compacted to the point it cannot absorb much rain. That is why the tree's soil should sit slightly lower than the sidewalk, and be covered with some mulch level with the sidewalk (not mounded).

Often what happens when the tree is planted is that the heavy clay soil that was dug out is dumped back in around the tree's roots without being amended with compost, peat moss, and sand that breaks up the clay. Clay soil when compacted is much like concrete in that a little rain will just run off of it, and it won't absorb that much moisture. Only a good day-long rain will penetrate to any degree.

It always amazes me when cities, developers, and property owners spend money to landscape with street trees, but don't bother to do it correctly. In essence, they are wasting their money when they don't.



Here is a Plaza tree well. It is too small to sustain the tree. The well needs to be as large as I've indicated in red.



The best street tree plantings have much bigger areas of soil exposure that can absorb moisture.



You can see these mature trees have bigger wells to support them.



Curb cuts that allow water into the tree well.



This design has curb cuts that allow water into the tree well during rain storms.



You can see in the photo above that these very mature trees have a lot of soil exposure between the curb and sidewalk.



This size is much better, but the well behind the one in the foreground has a no-no situation. The raised bed cannot absorb runoff from the sidewalk or street through a curb-cut. It might survive if watered during dry spells, Who knows? While the tree in the foreground doesn't have the raised concrete around it, there still is a problem. The mulch is piled too high above the sidewalk. Water will be diverted around the mulch mound.

A street tree should not have be on a raised bed. Ideally, the sidewalk and a cut in the curb would allow water to drain into a sunken well where the tree resides, and mulch covers the soil to sidewalk height, but not mounded high above the sidewalk. Or if the trees sits in a sunken well, to avoid people stepping down into it and tripping, a shin-high bracketed metal fence should surround it. This allows water to run under it into the well.





These street tree wells downtown are larger, however, the raised metal prevents rain to run off the sidewalk into the well, so the water catchment area is reduced.



These street tree wells along Locust near the Federal Courthouse downtown are ideal. They are designed to allow water to run off the sidewalk into the well. They have a very large catchment area.

ToDactivist wrote:seen same dead trees elsewhere and now wonder if the city got jiggy with throwing salt last year. it is not a good solution.

A tree toppled over on ward parkway last night. Think it was by kona

moderne wrote:Lots of dead trees on the Plaza. Looks like new management doesn't care to water. Makes things look even more tired and neglected.

The landscaping at Oak Park, Town Center Plaza, and Zona Rosa has been looking scraggly for years. The Plaza and IC have definitely seen the quality of their trees and flowers go down since both were sold. The fountain at TCP has been broken for years now too. Sadly, I think Legend's is the healthiest retail area in the metro right now which is helped by the fact that Legends is also the primary shopping center for the 75,000 residents of Leavenworth County, a county without a single department store or even a decent modern theater, and the residents of Douglass County who have very limited options in Lawrence since JCPenney, Old Navy, Pier One, Sears, and others have all left.

Relocations:
Bank of America, 4720 Jefferson St., will relocate to the former Standard Style space at 451 W. 47th St., which is next to the still vacant former Blanc Burgers space
Tesla, 4760 Broadway, will relocate to 450 Nichols Road later in the summer
Gap, 424 W. 47th St., will relocate to 235 W. 47th St.; Old Navy will take over its current space

Closings so far in 2018:
Williams-Sonoma, 4764 Broadway
Eddie Bauer, 436 Nichols Road
Burberry, 450 Nichols Road
Plaza III The Steakhouse, 4749 Pennsylvania Ave.
Niall, 612 W. 48th St.
Zoom toy store, 300 Ward Parkway

Newer tenants:
Rye, 4646 J.C. Nichols Parkway
Waffle Bar, 4745 Central St.
The Plaza Wedding Chapel, 314 Ward Parkway
Ricca Sposa Bridal Boutique, 320 Ward Parkway
Fortuity women's boutique, 422 Nichols Road
Hogshead Kansas City, 4743 Pennsylvania Ave.
Parkway Social Kitchen, 616 Ward Parkway

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... ement.html