The Citadel Plaza project at E. 63rd & Prospect

[BSykes]

I was driving down 63rd on lunch today and noticed that Mr. C's Vacuum and Sew Center is having a going out of business sale... They've put up signs that say something like "Going out of Business!! Not our fault; blame the City!! It also seems that the entire area has been fenced off.

Just wondering if anyone has an update, or anymore info about this project. Thanks.

[KCMax]

Tony's Kansas City: INSIDE THE CROOKED CITADEL PLAZA CASH GIVEAWAY THAT COULD GO DOWN TODAY!!!

Citadel Plaza vote postponed

Leaked Finance Department memo about the Citadel Plaza (hat tip to Bsykes for the original post)

[KCMax]

Effort to salvage Citadel Plaza in a swirl

The most recent effort to salvage the troubled Citadel Plaza may have hit another snag Wednesday.

The Kansas City Council had been moving toward approving a deal that would keep the $90 million development on track by making a temporary loan of $20.5 million in capital improvement dollars to the developer.

But council members said late Wednesday that they were beginning to worry whether this was the right solution. Finance Chairwoman Deb Hermann said she would oppose the temporary loan.

Other council members also expressed reservations. They included Cindy Circo, who represents the 5th District where the Citadel project is located. 

[dangerboy]

The proposed loan is very risky.  It takes money from things all over the city like streets, bridges, sidewalks, trails, etc.  In theory it only takes from projects that are scheduled after this year and the money will be repaid by the time those projects are supposed to be built.

However, with the recession and the long odds of Citadel actually getting finished, there is a big risk the loan ever be repaid.

[beautyfromashes]

Why don't they just revitalize the Landing shopping center across the street?  It probably would be cheaper and you would get rid of an eyesore at the same time.  Why is the answer to blight always to build a shopping center/ strip mall?

[lock+load]

^Across the street is a bit of a stretch.

[beautyfromashes]

^Across the street is a bit of a stretch.

alright, down the street, same neighborhood.  The thought is the same: why spend tons of money to build something new when you can create something new and remove a blight and eyesore at the same time?  This project doesn't make sense. 

[lock+load]

The Citadel site is definitely blighted now.

[KCMax]

KC Council passes for now on Citadel deal

After days of on-again-off-again negotiations, the Kansas City Council opted to send the Citadel Plaza development deal back to committee.

This delays, likely for at least six week, any progress on the controversial development deal on the city's East Side.

Terry Riley, who represents the city?s 5th District and the most vocal supporter of the Citadel Plaza development, said the delay doesn't kill the project.

[KCMax]

Hendricks: Citadel Plaza is a waiting game

Another argument is whether city government should have ever become involved in the project.

Because it?s obvious that Citadel Plaza was a disaster from the get-go ? from the shaky financing to the haphazard way more than 100 houses were demolished in 2006. (The developer of record, Community Development Corp. of Kansas City, was cited for improper handling of asbestos.)

The result is an area that is in worse shape now than when the project was proposed a decade ago.

?It looks like a war zone,? says Nathan Pare of the city?s Neighborhood and Community Services Department.

Walk down the empty streets, as I did Wednesday afternoon, and you?ll see where the weeds and sucker trees have grown nearly as tall as the houses once were.

Heaps of tires, broken furniture and bags of trash stretch for 60 feet in each direction at the corner of what was 62nd Street and Wabash Avenue.

Neighbors complain of rats.

?It used to be a neighborhood with houses, and now it?s a blighted area,? Pare says.

The city and the developer appear mutually to blame.

Beginning next week, city crews are to haul off debris, cut the grass and assess the bill ? estimated at upwards of $17,000 ? to the property owner of record, whoever that winds up being.

[kucer]

Drive by it every day. What a disaster. 

They should clean it up and make it an urban frisbee golf park for now.

[Thaine]

Actually, its the developer who has been negotiating to buy the property for the project, not the city.

The other outcome of the legislative committee yesterday was that the City Attorney has been directed to investigate the developer to determine if he they are in breach of the contract.  if he is, the City Attorney is to institute proceedings to have them removed and a new developer put in their place.

[KCMax]

VIDEO REPORT: $24,000 celanup at Citadel Plaza site

Kansas City crews Monday began mowing weeds at the Citadel Plaza development site at 63rd Street and Prospect Avenue. Inspectors wrote citations July 24 for weed violations on the property, but the owners did not address the problems. So city officials have decided to take action and bill the owners for the mowing costs.

[FangKC]

The Tax Increment Financing Commission of Kansas City will recommend to the city to terminate the developer's rights to build the Citadel Project.

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansa ... l?ana=e_ph

[KCMax]

Federal authorities issue subpoenas in probe related to Citadel Plaza

The Citadel Plaza shopping center at 63rd Street and Prospect Avenue was being developed by Community Development Corp. of Kansas City, widely known as the CDC-KC. But the project has languished for years, becoming the bane of neighborhood and civic leaders pushing for economic development in the urban core.

The CDC-KC in the past has been investigated by regulators for environmental compliance and spending of city and federal housing dollars.

The city's Tax Increment Financing Commission had planned this week to terminate the CDC-KC?s development rights at Citadel Plaza. But the commission's meeting was delayed because of the weather, said Joe Gonzales, TIF executive director.

[kard]

remember how Riley got Deb Hinsvark shit canned because she had doubts about the numbers on this project?

Deb Hinsvark, former chief financial officer for Kansas City government, tried to work with the CDC-KC on the Citadel financing while she was employed by the city from 2005 to 2007. She said at the time that she thought the project was worthwhile for the neighborhood, but she expressed some doubts about the developer?s track record and ability to successfully complete the financing.

Reached this week at her home in Colorado, Hinsvark said she thought the project should be investigated, but she declined to comment on whether the FBI had contacted her or her attorney.

not sure what the investigation is really about, but hopefully they can nail him for something.

[DaveKCMO]

yes, nail riley!

[DaveKCMO]

another casualty of citadel...

KC?s chief financial officer resigns

The acting city manager, Troy Schulte, said Yates had resigned ?to pursue other opportunities.? Schulte named the city?s treasurer, Randy Landes, as finance director.

Yates and Schulte, who previously was the city?s budget officer, occasionally clashed over questions about the accuracy of financial reports. Yates also came under fire from some council members over one of his proposals for financing the stalled Citadel shopping center project.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Landes is a good guy.  Hope he gets the Director's position fulltime.

[FangKC]

The developer of Citadel Plaza is suing the City.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking ... 25762.html