Three Light

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earthling
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Re: Three Light

Post by earthling »

Update on Three Light...
https://cityscenekc.com/three-light-con ... y-manager/
Nick Benjamin, executive director for the Cordish-owned Power & Light District, said if the City Council approves, construction is expected to begin on the $130 million project late this year with completion anticipated in early 2021.
Results of council meeting today?
Last edited by earthling on Thu Jan 11, 2018 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Three Light

Post by KCPowercat »

Meetings all cancelled today due to weather
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Re: Three Light

Post by horizons82 »

ldai_phs wrote:Or large city provided shared use garages. *shudder*
Get out of here with that heresy. :lol:
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Re: Three Light

Post by NorthOak »

StrangerThings wrote:
NorthOak wrote:The more I look at Two Light the uglier it becomes.
From a distance it just doesn't fit in the skyline.
The white lines separating the floors are as ugly as anything I've ever seen on a tall building.

If only it was twice as tall and less "blocky."
So you're saying you're not a fan! :D
Up close (street-level) the building is nice and a great addition.
The building has a better design and pretty face on it's south side.
My disdain is the southern view - It's the blank blue/white line southern face that distracts from the skyline money shot.
That's all I'm saying.
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beautyfromashes
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Re: Three Light

Post by beautyfromashes »

Trying to explain profits and costs while then mentioning getting extra revenue from the garages. How about reinvesting some of that extra funds into a few design changes on 3? Believe me, I understand business, but I think putting out multiple products that are fairly blah will hurt your brand in the long term. None of the towers would make it through a development approval committee in a major city. If it’s just a matter of building out Four Light and moving on in the next five years, then I get it. I just wouldnt be surprised to see at least one of the towers being totally reworked in the next 20 years. I just think the KC clientele will get more demanding of appealing design with top notch finishes. We will move past the cheap loft, concrete floors, exposed ductwork, ‘it’s artistic’, design viewpoint very quickly.
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Re: Three Light

Post by DaveKCMO »

cordish doesn't own the garages, so it would not be a good idea to invest garage revenue into their apartment building (unless it was to fund a public parking structure that's part of three light).
JBmidtown
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Re: Three Light

Post by JBmidtown »

Hey ST when are we going to see some updated 3 Light renderings?
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beautyfromashes
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Re: Three Light

Post by beautyfromashes »

^ ST, I think you can probably figure out which Cordish property I’m referring to. There are only two. You ‘guessed’ wrong.
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Re: Three Light

Post by FangKC »

StrangerThings wrote:I'm not sure which Cordish property you're referencing with the "cheap loft, concrete floors, exposed duct work" line either????

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I think he means One Light, and probably meant the exposed concrete ceilings and walls instead of floors. In some apartments in One Light, there are exposed pipes and ducts. Again you are wrong StrangerThings. You can see in the photos I'm providing that there are exposed ducts and pipes in the living area and kitchens of One Light.

I hope Cordish limits that look to just One Light, since only has a limited appeal for most people. I guess it's not a big deal since it's a rental apartment building. Most people who buy in luxury buildings want a more finished look. The ceilings in One Light make me think the apartments were built in a former parking garage.

I wouldn't live in One Light simply because of the exposed pipes and ducts, and the concrete ceilings. I don't like that unfinished look. And don't overestimate the market for it. If one ever sells the apartments, more people will be put off with those features than attracted. For rentals, it's not as big a deal because many of the tenants will not be long-term and will move on at some point.

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beautyfromashes
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Re: Three Light

Post by beautyfromashes »

^ You’re right, the floors aren’t concrete. It’s the ceilings. Are the floors actual wood or engineered wood that they snap together? I think Cordish thought they could throw a hot dog to a hungry dog and it would get eaten up. They were right in the short term, but several years from now, they will have to renovate to get/keep residents, especially with better product coming to the market. The same with exteriors.
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Re: Three Light

Post by smh »

I happened to be in a One Light unit yesterday for a few minutes, I have to say it was much nicer than I recalled. I agree I'd like to have duct work hidden and finished ceilings though, a full move away from "loft" vibe.
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beautyfromashes
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Re: Three Light

Post by beautyfromashes »

StrangerThings wrote:One Light was a bit of a risk. Sure, a new high rise residential unit hasn’t been built downtown for 40 years but “would they come” and “how much will they pay” was hard to nail down. The budget corresponded to those unknowns. Two Light will be much improved now that there’s some proof of concept. I’m personally looking forward to moving down the street into TL.
Yes, this is understood that Cordish took a huge risk. They deserve a good amount of credit along with the city council taking a chance to rebuild DT. The problem I’m having is that I feel they are building for the current market. 1L was built to rent out immediately, and it did. But, as you agreed, it is already somewhat dated due to the budget constraints at the time. Their product is dating very quickly as 1L has only been open a few years. Now that we can see more where the market is going, they should plan for a longer term product that wouldn’t need updating so quickly. This includes the exterior product. I’m decently happy with what they are building, just not blown away. Still rooting for their success.
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Re: Three Light

Post by earthling »

" The exterior of Two Light could look better, but when you're talking 15 million dollars savings by eliminating some of the original exterior elements, it's a choice that has to be made. "

Apologies for pressing on this but you can make it look different at similar cost level. And can source materials from a Cordish project in another city to get economies of scale. Making it look different but just meh would be better than two nearly same meh looking buildings. Use different dark tinted windows from another city's project and use black trim instead of those 60's style aluminum looking strips. It would look a bit better or at least different and not a row of meh, yet not necessarily more expensive parts.
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beautyfromashes
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Re: Three Light

Post by beautyfromashes »

Kind of the point I'm trying to make though, ST. Is it better to spend the $15M up front and not have to upgrade in 5 years with the hassle of doing it with tenants in the building? And all the more so for the exterior. Why not spend some extra money on an exterior look that will be a classic and timeless instead of something cheaper that will age poorly. If you'll create something iconic meant to last 50 years+, by the time that 50 years is over it will be back in style and never need to have a full style change. This as opposed to changes every 10 years. See the P&L building as an example.
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normalthings
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Re: Three Light

Post by normalthings »

beautyfromashes wrote:Kind of the point I'm trying to make though, ST. Is it better to spend the $15M up front and not have to upgrade in 5 years with the hassle of doing it with tenants in the building? And all the more so for the exterior. Why not spend some extra money on an exterior look that will be a classic and timeless instead of something cheaper that will age poorly. If you'll create something iconic meant to last 50 years+, by the time that 50 years is over it will be back in style and never need to have a full style change. This as opposed to changes every 10 years. See the P&L building as an example.
I think he's saying they don't really know if the money/demand is there to make those "iconic" designs. And/or Cordish believes in it, but its hard to sell a bank on a $15 million upgraded exterior for a building with demand they aren't sure will be there.
Thus they build something that is good. Wait a few years for demand to be proven. Then they upgrade the buildings.
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normalthings
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Re: Three Light

Post by normalthings »

StrangerThings wrote:^ I don't disagree with you. I think One Light will continue to service those who don't want to spend the money on a place at Two Light, or those who really want to be that close to the store, gym etc. One block doesn't sound like much, but when you become so used to that convenience, going outside and walking one block to the gym and store suddenly become a PITA!

Two Light is looking great on the interior, every aspect has been stepped up and depending on how quickly it leases, I would expect Three Light to be slightly nicer, or perhaps a bit riskier on the interior designs. I also believe the plan is to slowly start upgrading One Light, likely 5 years or so down the road as people move out and there's a short window to update on a per unit basis.

The folks on here aren't the only ones not 100% happy with the exterior designs. The teams I work with all go in with these grand ideas and designs, than sadly are forced to scale back when we get the bids back. The exterior of Two Light could look better, but when you're talking 15 million dollars savings by eliminating some of the original exterior elements, it's a choice that has to be made.

Personally, I'm excited about how things are going and am really looking forward to a new office tower and the capping of I-670. I hope I'm still downtown to see all that come together.
Would the office tower be mixed use? Is there a timeline?
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smh
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Re: Three Light

Post by smh »

StrangerThings wrote:
ldai_phs wrote:
Would the office tower be mixed use? Is there a timeline?
Ground floor would possibly have some retail, but it wasn't originally designed to have much. The lobby and elevator shaft are already there for the most part. No serious timeline as the conversations have only recently started up with H&R. I do know they'd like to have the I-670 cap done within 5 years.
Just to clarify, this site already has retail around it, so while the proposed tower might not be mixed-use, the project overall would effectively be so because of the pre-existing ground floor retail in the area. I think. Right?
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Re: Three Light

Post by WoodDraw »

Wait, why is H&R even involved? Did they have another option on this? Surely they don't need more room? What an I missing?
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Re: Three Light

Post by WoodDraw »

StrangerThings wrote:
WoodDraw wrote:Wait, why is H&R even involved? Did they have another option on this? Surely they don't need more room? What an I missing?
Their "air rights" were extended to 2020. Cordish and H&R are in early stages of discussion on how to proceed. The easy answer is yes, they need some more room but not an entire building.
Thank you :)
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im2kull
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Re: Three Light

Post by im2kull »

WoodDraw wrote:Wait, why is H&R even involved? Did they have another option on this? Surely they don't need more room? What an I missing?
This is the location of what was originally considered H&R Block Phase II..correct? H&R intended to build another high rise for their own use in this spot, which still seems to be ..at least somewhat.. the case.
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