Valentine Shopping Center Redevelopment

[Marreekarr]

With all of the problems related to housing, I have always thought that the biggest eyesore in the area is the Valentine Shopping Center across from the Uptown Theater.  Not only is the strip mall totally out of character for the neighborhood, it is also for some reason or other a magnet for undesirables who like to congregate in the parking lot just off of Broadway.  Too bad the Disney plan for that corner never took off.

[DiggityDawg]

Yeah, what was that? I know KC Life supposedly had plans at one point, but I've never heard of a Disney plan.

I think a big part of the problem with the Valentine Shopping Center has to do with the "blood for money" place that's there. Actually, I recently discovered that that whole area used to be the location of a huge mansion...the stone & metal wall/fence that used to surround it is still there in part - on the west side of the block.

[paisstat]

This area has some very nice architecture and could be quite a lively little area.  On Broadway, I think the Valentine Shopping Center--is that the name of it?--on the corner should be redeveloped.  It should be inverted with street front design and a multi-level parking garage attached in the rear.  I would like to see the heights of the building comparable to the surrounding buildings--8 to 10 stories with mixed income housing.  This would be a great step towards redeveloping this area by bringing needed retail services.  Likewise, I would like to see that Blockbuster building redeveloped.  The current building is very anti-urban with the parking lot in the front. 

[ComandanteCero]

^ totally.  That shopping center would be PERFECT for a mixed use, parking structure with office and retail wrap around project.  This is one of the better examples in the country.  It's a 700 car parking garage with building wrapped around it (it's an urban infill project  in Colorado Springs, CO)

[Tosspot]

I like it. Any building that succeeds at providing car storage yet doesn't LOOK like it's main purpose is car storage is alright in my book-- Valencia Place on the Plaza fits this bill too.

[trailerkid]

It appears that Larry Sells is still pursuing plans to redevelop the Valentine Shopping Center project into a mixed use structure with parking, retail and residential. Berger Devine Yaeger, who designed Northgate Village in NKC, have done rendering of the new Valentine project as recently as December 05. Could this project still be in the pipeline? If this happens, it could be a major boost to the Broadway corridor.


Broadway Looking North


Pennsylvania Looking East


Valentine Looking Northeast


Valentine Looking North

[ComandanteCero]

looks decent.  Are those renderings online somewhere?

[Steve52]

Where is the money going to come from for that?

[kard]

Where is the money going to come from for that?

Red-light traffic camera fines. 

[trailerkid]

Where is the money going to come from for that?

Where the same money comes from for almost every project in the metro...TIF. Larry Sells owns the Uptown so he's probably got some cash. I wish he'd bring someone else in with some more experience like Urban Coer or MCZ/Centrum. No reason to believe this location is not very desirable and dynamic. Few opportunities exist in Midtown for such a high profile location.

Although, it's just conceptual, I really like the idea of using a circular design for the corner to mimic the Uptown across the street. The renderings are on the Uptown web site and you can also catch glimpses of them on BDY's web site although the project isn't official there.

[Steve52]

Ordinary taxpayers must pay more in order to subsidize TIF recipients.

[trailerkid]

Ordinary taxpayers must pay more in order to subsidize TIF recipients.

No shit...this is definitely a project and neighborhood that needs TIF if anyone does.

[paisstat]

Those renderings look nice, this is exactly the kind of development that area needs.  Throw in a couple hundred townhouses between Broadway and S.W. Trafficway and the area would be on its way back to vibrancy.

[chrizow]

Those renderings look nice, this is exactly the kind of development that area needs.  Throw in a couple hundred townhouses between Broadway and S.W. Trafficway and the area would be on its way back to vibrancy.

no kidding.  i am amazed this corridor hasn't bounced back in a big way already.  the Main/Broadway corridors in Midtown are basically flanked by some pretty nice residential neighborhoods.  it's odd that this stretch is so sketchy when there are homes selling for $400,000 just a block away.  Hyde Park residents throw a fit when the Madrid hosts a popular event that brings people to the area, but do they protest the crime and blight? 

[Steve52]

Those renderings look nice, this is exactly the kind of development that area needs.  Throw in a couple hundred townhouses between Broadway and S.W. Trafficway and the area would be on its way back to vibrancy.

Nope. That alone isn't gonna' do it.

[Steve52]

The legal rules for establishing TIF districts are so flexible and almost capricious that they give government officials and developers arbitrary authority over long-time community residents, an arrangement that poses a significant risk to the freedoms of the latter. The “but forâ€

[trailerkid]

FACT


Sells was trumpeting this stuff almost 20 years ago and hasn't delivered.

I guess I missed the argument here. No ever said he did deliver. Jesus...I just wanted people to see the rendering that was done in December if they hadn't.

[ComandanteCero]

thanks for sharing the renderings tk, good to see that even if this particular concept does not go through, they are thinking along dense urban lines.

[Steve52]

I think it's ugly. Looks like an amusement park. 

"Six Flags over Valentine"

[Tosspot]

I think it's ugly. Looks like an amusement park. 

"Six Flags over Valentine"

You think the renderings look ugly? Compared to what? Have you ever bothered casting a glance at the hideous strip mall gulag that resides there now? Stop being such a curmudgeon.