Historic Plaza Apts Being Demo'd?

[DaveKCMO]

sign the petition:

https://www.change.org/p/city-of-kansas ... m=copyLink

[shinatoo]

Or don't.

[DaveKCMO]

a reprieve: http://www.kansascity.com/news/governme ... 73163.html

[FangKC]

Committee sides with developer wanting to raze Plaza apartments

Three 12-unit apartment structures built on the west side of the Country Club Plaza in 1927 are more likely to be demolished as a result of action by a Kansas City Council committee on Wednesday.
The Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee voted 4-1 to recommend denial of a proposed ordinance that would grant historical designation for the three buildings at 4728-4734 Summit St.

...

Councilwoman Katheryn Shields cast the lone vote in favor of granting the historical designation by expanding the Nelle E. Peters Thematic District, which includes six nearby Plaza buildings. Voting against the designation were Lee Barnes, Heather Hall, Quinton Lucas and Scott Taylor. The issue now heads to the City Council.

...

Price, however, presented a compelling case for his argument that the Summit buildings, also known as the Green Gables Apartments, won’t make sense as a rehabilitation project no matter how long their demolition might be delayed.
The biggest reason for that is the $3.6 million price that 47 Summit LLC paid previous owner Andrea Carter for the property in August 2014.

“I’m a new housing developer, and that’s the kind of price she wanted,” said Price, who noted that the buildings had languished on the market for a decade.

Carter’s partnership, Mooning Over Broadway LLC, bought the apartment buildings in 1996 and for the next 18 years performed “literally no maintenance,” said Jim Bowers, a White Goss attorney representing Price.

All but two of the 36 units remained occupied at the time 47 Summit LLC bought the buildings. But their condition, lack of parking and amenities, and size (560 to 620 square feet) precluded profitable rehabilitation for continued apartment use, Bowers said. So Price gave tenants time to get out — plus a $500 bonus if they did so by last March. And on May 20, five days after the buildings were completely vacated, he received a pre-demolition permit.

Price said he wasn’t expecting the mobilization of the local preservation community that followed. Before buying the buildings and again when he received the pre-demolition permit, he called the City Plan Commission and the Historic Kansas City Foundation (mistakenly thinking it was the city’s historic preservation commission) to ask whether the Green Gables buildings were historic buildings or were up for designation. Both representatives he spoke with said no, not to their knowledge.

But after word of the permit got out, the Historic Kansas City Foundation applied for designation for the structures. Subsequently, the Kansas City Historic Preservation Commission voted 5-1 and the Plan Commission voted 6-0 to support historic designation, and Price began entertaining offers from developers interested in buying and rehabbing the apartments.

Of the seven developers who showed initial interest, Bowers said, only two made offers. Sunflower Development Group offered $760,000, he said, and Butch Rigby offered $620,000.

...

Ryan Huffman, CFO for Cohen-Esrey Real Estate Services, testified on behalf of Price. His calculations showed that even with historic tax credits and a property tax abatement, rehabbing the deteriorating structures for continued apartment use would result in a $2.25 million loss over 11 years for Price’s partnership if it achieved $1.50-a-square foot rents. Based the unlikely $1.90-a-foot rents used in Historic Kansas City’s market-rate calculations, he said, Price’s group still would lose $20,000.

“If he paid $700,000, it would work,” Huffman said, adding that, “my opinion is the highest and best use is to demolish and construct new.”

Price, who disclosed that Price Brothers had been among the bidders in Highwoods Properties’ recent sale of its Country Club Plaza assets, said he probably would take advantage of the Green Gables site's existing zoning, which allows residential uses of as much as 10 stories. However, he pledged to limit construction to seven stories to preserve neighbors’ current views.

...

http://tinyurl.com/hqykrdt

[flyingember]

This is an interesting situation.

Price, however, presented a compelling case for his argument that the Summit buildings, also known as the Green Gables Apartments, won’t make sense as a rehabilitation project no matter how long their demolition might be delayed.
The biggest reason for that is the $3.6 million price that 47 Summit LLC paid previous owner Andrea Carter for the property in August 2014.

“I’m a new housing developer, and that’s the kind of price she wanted,” said Price, who noted that the buildings had languished on the market for a decade.

I'm amazed that the biggest reason going against the designation is he paid too much and finds he can't make any money now.

There's plenty of legitimate condition reasons to not apply the designation like being too rundown and you would have to replace the things that make the buildings historic, but profit and loss shouldn't be one of them.

In that case, preserve them, require maintenance so things don't get worse and wait until you can afford to do the work because rental rates went up.
We went through the same thing with the Cosby Hotel and it's been a huge success because the city ignored "it's too far gone" and found someone that would do the work.

[kcjak]

Back to the 'lack of parking' excuse - the building is going to be 7 stories with the type of amenities to demand high rent levels, they're going to have to have structured parking, no? And because of the limited square footage of the lots, does that likely mean a ground level consisting of nothing but parking garage? Could the developer propose tearing up the park to install a larger, underground garage and then rebuild the park on top?

[FangKC]

Flyingember, my reaction was the same. Price paid too much for the apartments to justify renovating them--based on current rents. The only way he can come out ahead is to demolish and build more sq. footage.

kcjak, if you read the article, Price indicates that he hopes to buy the Park Plaza office building to the north--from Highwoods, and convert it to apartments. That building comes with a fairly-large parking garage. I'm assuming converting it to residential requires fewer parking spaces per sq. foot than office use. The excess garage spaces could then be allocated to the new 7-story residential building Price is proposing.

Price also disclosed that he has been talking to Highwoods Properties about possibly buying the Park Plaza office building just north of the Green Gables buildings and converting it for apartment use. The Park Plaza building is one of three Highwoods-owned Plaza properties that weren't included in the recent sale, he said.

This link shows you the Park Plaza office building and garage north of the existing apartments.

http://tinyurl.com/zs4lf78

[Midtownkid]

Park Plaza is one ugly mother Fker

Tear that down, build a bigger apartment building and offset the cost of renovating these buildings with that...

[flyingember]

Park Plaza is one ugly mother Fker

Tear that down, build a bigger apartment building and offset the cost of renovating these buildings with that...

I wouldn't call it special or interesting, but it's not ugly. Just boring.

[TheBigChuckbowski]

Just got done emailing the council for what it's worth. I recommend others do the same.

[longviewmo]

http://www.kansascity.com/latest-news/a ... 48030.html

[FangKC]

Council won't stop wrecking ball for '20s Plaza apartments

The Kansas City Council voted 9-3 Thursday against granting historical designation to three 12-unit apartment structures built in 1927 on the west side of the Country Club Plaza.

The vote allows 47 Summit LLC, a partnership formed by Price Brothers CEO Doug Price, to demolish the buildings, which it bought for $3.6 million in August 2014.

http://tinyurl.com/zoh5r4m

[pash]

.

[FangKC]

I agree Pash. Before the City approved demolition, they should have demanded images of what the replacement building would look like with layout, etc., and proof that Price Brothers has their private financing lined up and approved.

[aknowledgeableperson]

" and proof that Price Brothers has their private financing lined up and approved."

Shouldn't that also apply to any economic incentives granted? And I don't mean just for teardowns.

[DaveKCMO]

And once again we're going to get a tear-down with no plan put forward for its replacement. This simply should not happen.

$10 bucks says they ask for incentives. no one builds garages without them (except that pesky hotel next to the streetcar line...).

[FangKC]

They may not need to build a garage if they can purchase the Park Plaza office building to the north.

[kboish]

They have said they will try to purchase the Park Plaza building or make a parking agreement with whomever eventually buys it. It is of note that when the council declined to puts these on the historic register several mentioned they expect this project not to be back asking for incentives because they would find it difficult to approve any. But, I also see these getting knocked down by summer and then sitting for 3-4 years vacant... so we'll see who is still even on the council and just how long of a memory they have.

[FangKC]

You are probably right kboish. It could go either way. However, they would also be taking a risk taking too long to develop the site. The growing opposition to granting incentives could come into play on that site. Especially since the development wouldn't be about retaining a company, or bringing in new jobs. Opposition could also take the tact that the City doesn't need to give incentives on the Plaza.

[kboish]

You are probably right kboish. It could go either way. However, they would also be taking a risk taking too long to develop the site. The growing opposition to granting incentives could come into play on that site. Especially since the development wouldn't be about retaining a company, or bringing in new jobs. Opposition could also take the tact that the City doesn't need to give incentives on the Plaza.

I guess I forgot to mention the third option he stated if he was unable to utilize the Park Plaza building through purchase or agreement. He said they would have to build a parking garage below the surface because there is no room to put one above ground and get the number of units he suggests he wants. If this is the direction he must go, I'd say they would definitely go back before the council for incentives- making the case they tried option A and B, but couldn't make it work so now need incentives. It would be very interesting to see how that played out. Because this relies on purchasing a building that is not yet for sale and potentially negotiating with a new owner, it seems to me this will take some time to play out.

He also mentioned that there are several plaza area developers who have known for awhile the Plaza would be put on the market and have been waiting to see how that would shake out before moving forward with any plans. Based on how he spoke about it, he seemed very confident with direction of the plaza (not that everyone will like it, but that developers will). Specifically he said, "things are gonna change on the plaza". I recommend to anyone who is interested in hearing some highly detailed discussion related to plaza development to go online and watch the PZE committee hearing testimony from the Price Brothers and their attorney. Its 2-3 hours long, but pretty interesting.