UMKC Conservatory of Music considers move to downtown

[aknowledgeableperson]

No, it was hockey played elsewhere in the city. The midtown had it at the Pla-Mor. I think that is what it was called.

[FangKC]

It was mentioned on RUCKUS tonight that there is going to be a major announcement on Monday from the UMKC Chancellor regarding the Conservatory of Music downtown.

[pash]

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[FangKC]

My guess is the remaining money has been raised to match the funds coming from Julia Kauffman.

I'm guessing the final location is not set yet, since not all the property has been assembled.

[shinatoo]

My guess is 17th and Broadway.

http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/11/50 ... posed.html

[Highlander]

OK, place your bets.

My money is on a small campus (a) mostly between the Kauffman Center and Baltimore, but spilling over into the block between Baltimore and Main, with (b) about of the funds already lined up via private donations and state money. Unfortunately (c) the conceptual site designs will be rather underwhelming, as will be the final product. But the project will nevertheless be a huge boon to the north Crossroads.

Sounds more like a single building rather than a campus - albeit a relatively large one at 190,000 sq ft. I was surprised when visiting NY last summer that Juilliard was only a single building. Nice to see the space will utilize the existing parking structure at the Performing Arts Center than add more surface lots to the area.

[pash]

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[shinatoo]

I didn't realize they'd already announced a site donation. So I guess we know the main bits, and they're probably just announcing state matching money tomorrow, maybe with some initial renderings.

The "campus", or whatever you want to call it, will be quite small, I'm sure. Probably a single building taking up the whole block southeast of 17th and Broadway. Because of the height restrictions protecting the views of the Kauffman Center, I'd be surprised if the building is more than a single story along 17th Street, rising to two stories on the south side of the block. It could still be pretty neat if they do it right, maybe put a big park-like green roof on the low portion to serve as a sort of traditional campus quadrangle.

Everything you assumed is in the article. It will be the whole block. They will apply for state funding after they are done with fund raising. It will be low rise to protect the view.

The real question is, why will a two story building cost almost 100 million. $500 plus per sq ft seams rather pricey.

[flyingember]

I didn't realize they'd already announced a site donation. So I guess we know the main bits, and they're probably just announcing state matching money tomorrow, maybe with some initial renderings.

The "campus", or whatever you want to call it, will be quite small, I'm sure. Probably a single building taking up the whole block southeast of 17th and Broadway. Because of the height restrictions protecting the views of the Kauffman Center, I'd be surprised if the building is more than a single story along 17th Street, rising to two stories on the south side of the block. It could still be pretty neat if they do it right, maybe put a big park-like green roof on the low portion to serve as a sort of traditional campus quadrangle.

Everything you assumed is in the article. It will be the whole block. They will apply for state funding after they are done with fund raising. It will be low rise to protect the view.

The real question is, why will a two story building cost almost 100 million. $500 plus per sq ft seams rather pricey.

They're fundraising for a whole campus. Every earlier plan had 4-6 blocks included. This is one block.

[chingon]

The real question is, why will a two story building cost almost 100 million. $500 plus per sq ft seams rather pricey.

I know its KC and all, but does "low-rise" necessarily mean 2 stories? I read the article (I thought) and thought it might be 3 or 4. Did I miss something?

[pash]

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[DaveKCMO]

not restrictions, recommendations:

[FangKC]

Even though they are recommendations, I don't see any reason to have any height restrictions in the East Crossroads east of Locust to Bruce Watkins, and south of Truman Road to 25th Street. It's mostly industrial-type buildings now. There are also large parcels and entire blocks where a taller commercial or residential buildings could be built that could accommodate a building and a parking garage. I'd rather see these large-scale towers go there than other locations where smaller historic buildings might have to be demolished to accommodate parking.

I also don't see any need for height restrictions in the West Paseo/Jazz Hill neighborhood bounded by I-70, I-35, Independence Avenue, and Paseo. Again, there are plenty of larger parcels and entire blocks that could accommodate larger buildings without requiring demolition of historic structures. Since entire blocks are available, parking garages could be built below grade, and in the center of the blocks with buildings surrounding them, or on top of them, without requiring removal of existing buildings that one might want to keep.

Many have stated they wish big companies like Cernerd or Garmin would build a headquarters downtown instead of in more suburban areas like the Bannister Mall site, or out near Legends. However, to accomplish a goal like that, with those companies having thousands of employees, it would require large parcels or several whole blocks with dedicated parking in garages that would eat up a lot of land. If Cerner had built a main headquarters campus downtown, the only realistic areas for this would be the East Crossroads or Paseo West/Jazz Hill neighborhoods, or perhaps on Hospital Hill.

[flyingember]

it would require large parcels or several whole blocks with dedicated parking in garages that would eat up a lot of land.

not necessarily

go look in google maps around Target field in Mineapolis for a potential model to urban parking. could even take at street level and put in some rentalable retail space.

[FangKC]

Well, with Cerner, one is talking about a company that is adding up to 15,000 employees at the Bannister Mall site. Even if 50 percent took mass transit, that is around 7,000 cars to accommodate. That would require a lot of structured parking, and a big number of adjacent parcels.

It would be hard to accomplish that inside the downtown loop. Thus the need for other neighborhoods nearby that don't have height restrictions, especially if you have to build an 8-10 story parking garage under commercial towers.

Yes, one could feasibly build over the highways, but that makes building the structured parking even more expensive. We are talking about Kansas City, where rents don't cover the cost of building such expensive parking solutions.

For that many parking spaces, neighborhoods like East Crossroads and Paseo West/Jazz Hill are more likely to be able to place the parking structures up against the freeways, and not create a bunch of dead blocks in the interior of the neighborhood that affect street activity, and vitality.

[DaveKCMO]

Even though they are recommendations, I don't see any reason to have any height restrictions in the East Crossroads east of Locust to Bruce Watkins, and south of Truman Road to 25th Street. It's mostly industrial-type buildings now. There are also large parcels and entire blocks where a taller commercial or residential buildings could be built that could accommodate a building and a parking garage. I'd rather see these large-scale towers go there than other locations where smaller historic buildings might have to be demolished to accommodate parking.

I also don't see any need for height restrictions in the West Paseo/Jazz Hill neighborhood bounded by I-70, I-35, Independence Avenue, and Paseo. Again, there are plenty of larger parcels and entire blocks that could accommodate larger buildings without requiring demolition of historic structures. Since entire blocks are available, parking garages could be built below grade, and in the center of the blocks with buildings surrounding them, or on top of them, without requiring removal of existing buildings that one might want to keep.

Many have stated they wish big companies like Cerner or Garmin would build a headquarters downtown instead of in more suburban areas like the Bannister Mall site, or out near Legends. However, to accomplish a goal like that, with those companies having thousands of employees, it would require large parcels or several whole blocks with dedicated parking in garages that would eat up a lot of land. If Cerner had built a main headquarters campus downtown, the only realistic areas for this would be the East Crossroads or Paseo West/Jazz Hill neighborhoods, or perhaps on Hospital Hill.

there was a lot of debate about these recommendations. someone even came back shortly afterwards and tried to raise some of the lower ones. ultimately, the neighborhood consensus was to encourage tall buildings -- above 75 or 130 feet -- to locate in the CBD or crown center which are the centers of our transit network and already built for such structures. crossroads -- as well as the other adjacent downtown neighborhoods -- don't have that character today (and don't want it). you don't need to be that tall to build density anyway.

long story short, there is PLENTY of space in the CBD and CC areas for more skyscrapers (north and east loop).

all that said, i'm personally not a fan of these recommendations but nearly everyone else in the neighborhood is.

[FangKC]

Well, all of this is long-term anyway, since we don't yet have bigger companies--with a lot of employees downtown--scrambling to build headquarters buildings.

The reason I suggested those two areas is because of long-term plans to run streetcars down Independence Avenue, 12th Street, and perhaps 18th Street, which would provide east-west transit connections to the Main Street streetcar line.

These areas are also well-suited for taller residential buildings that might require dedicated parking in the structure to be marketable. It's very unlikely that one would ever have NIMBY problems building tall residential buildings.

They have basically clean-slate blocks that aren't encumbered by needing to preserve, or accommodate existing historic buildings.

There are only a few buildings in West Paseo/Jazz Hill that I'd like to see preserved: the houses on E. 8th and Troost, Unity Hall, the old Masonic Temple, the City Union Mission, the Frances Building, that ABC Storage building, the antique store building, a couple of church buildings, the former bakery building on Virginia Ave., and the apartment buildings along Paseo.

[FangKC]

KMBC report on the announcement.

http://tinyurl.com/kztt3uy

[FangKC]

UMKC narrows down pool of architects to design downtown arts campus

Local firms competing for the job include BNIM, El Dorado, Helix, Hoefer Wysocki and International Architect Atelier.

Business Journal of Kansas City

http://tinyurl.com/kdvs3tu

KCUR

http://tinyurl.com/lthezcb

[DaveKCMO]

went to both public events -- thursday evening and sunday afternoon. all five teams did a decent job given the time constraints, picking up on several key neighborhood themes (transparency was a big one). supposedly a final team will be chosen today. they still have a $18 million funding gap.