Is KC Tenants destroying the development future of downtown KCMO?

[CrossroadsUrbanApts]

Seems like KC Tenants and some Councilmembers can't even stand behind the inclusionary set aside requirements that they supported/legislated. Maybe MAC was trying some funny business with acquiring an existing affordable building, but this certainly increases the uncertainty factor, where incentives are not even supported when the mandated affordable units are set aside.

This project probably comes back in 2-4 weeks (who knows maybe a deal was already in the works), but if it is truly dead, this will probably be the last incentives applied for under this current Council. Who would spend the money to risk asking for incentives now? So a lot more parking lots will stay parking lots.

[FlippantCitizen]

Bottom line... They are not going to get everything they want and the political winds might fill their sails for a while but I don't see them sustaining control of council members. Bunch will have to see reason or lose his seat. They will affect policy in the city but there is going to be a happy medium reached. I'm optimistic in that regard and seeing their organization as an existential threat is an over reaction.

[AlkaliAxel]

I still find the whole thing ironic that one of KC’s big selling points is “affordability” but yet these groups are gaining power on the basis that KC now is…unaffordable? Okay, can we pick a lane?

[brewcrew1000]

The New Yorker apartments are a huge dump, wish those things would be bulldozed, might be worse then the Alcazar apartments on 39th

[chaglang]

Kansas City is set up so that it's easier for a developer to win on something like this. By that I mean, Council term limits and a weak mayor system make it easy to wait out things like this. KC Tenants will lose steam, their people will get tired of nonstop fighting, the conversation and attention will shift elsewhere. They think they've won, but it's almost impossible for something like this to stay "won". I have no dog in this and honestly don't care if this ever gets built... but this is how KC works.

Long-range prediction is that this gets built, and probably with some incentives. MAC is very good at waiting out things like this in a way local developers are not. They own the land, it's a prime corner. Eventually they may go back for some downsized incentives package or upsized affordable component and the council will see it as reasonable, and the project will get built.

My understanding of Bunch's vote is that MAC didn't make a case for the amount of money needed. That was my takeaway from the Star article. If that's true, Shields deserves some criticism for trying to ram this through without the votes. It's worked for her in the past but this council doesn't seem to respond well to that. It's probably not a bad thing that she'll get termed out.

It would be interesting to see what the Royals make of this, as they are going to be asking the city for a massive amount of money in the not-to-distant future.

[beautyfromashes]

Kansas City is set up so that it's easier for a developer to win on something like this. By that I mean, Council term limits and a weak mayor system make it easy to wait out things like this. KC Tenants will lose steam, their people will get tired of nonstop fighting, the conversation and attention will shift elsewhere. They think they've won, but it's almost impossible for something like this to stay "won". I have no dog in this and honestly don't care if this ever gets built... but this is how KC works.

KC Tenants will only lose steam when voters start asking candidates if they support the group and voting accordingly.

[CrossroadsUrbanApts]

I agree with a lot of the points made above and I don't believe KC Tenants is any kind of existential threat. My sorrow is more along the lines of killing off, or at least substantially weakening, tax abatements will result in (a) fewer apartments and (b) more greenfield development. Tax abatements help level the playing field between infill and greenfield (as long as greenfield sprawl developments aren't ALSO getting tax incentives). The City should always incentivize infill - use/upgrade existing infrastructure rather than building new. Also the increased density helps public transportation viable and successful.

I don't think people realize how flat rents have been in core KCMO the last few years due to the increased competition. That is a GOOD thing. However, construction costs have really gone up. Some infill development will still get done in a world without incentives - but there will be fewer and more will be pushed out to the edges. Look at Drake buying 200 acres in south JoCo and proposing new apartments.

[chaglang]

Kansas City is set up so that it's easier for a developer to win on something like this. By that I mean, Council term limits and a weak mayor system make it easy to wait out things like this. KC Tenants will lose steam, their people will get tired of nonstop fighting, the conversation and attention will shift elsewhere. They think they've won, but it's almost impossible for something like this to stay "won". I have no dog in this and honestly don't care if this ever gets built... but this is how KC works.

KC Tenants will only lose steam when voters start asking candidates if they support the group and voting accordingly.

Yes, but also: volunteer groups are highly susceptible to burnout or splintering over time, particularly when some of these votes go against them. Cynical to say but I've seen it more often than not.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

Kansas City is set up so that it's easier for a developer to win on something like this. By that I mean, Council term limits and a weak mayor system make it easy to wait out things like this. KC Tenants will lose steam, their people will get tired of nonstop fighting, the conversation and attention will shift elsewhere. They think they've won, but it's almost impossible for something like this to stay "won". I have no dog in this and honestly don't care if this ever gets built... but this is how KC works.

KC Tenants will only lose steam when voters start asking candidates if they support the group and voting accordingly.

Yes, but also: volunteer groups are highly susceptible to burnout or splintering over time, particularly when some of these votes go against them. Cynical to say but I've seen it more often than not.

So how do we get more votes to go against them then? Work with these developers on outreach to the neighborhood? Messaging the tax incentives to show that the city isn’t writing a blank check to the developer? Show what the tax contributions to the area are with and without the project? What is the best way to counter their movement? It may not be an existential threat yet, but they have over 12,000 people following and had enough power to shift bunch’s vote, as he was originally supportive of the project.

[chaglang]

You just wait.

The 4th and 6th residents are always going to be sympathetic to whatever liberal populism is happening in the city. And there is a significant fear of density among the olds in those districts, so developers are not going to be sympathetic faces. There's also a question of how far developers will go to lobby the public for incentives - when the Legislature was trying to kill the HTCs about 10 years ago, it was near-impossible to get developers to testify in support of the credits, even if they did a lot of that work.

Cynically: eventually a sense of "we already took care of that" will take over (whether the problem was solved or not) and the KCT message will lose potency. In a lot of ways, their window is now but they will have to really work to keep it open.

[dukuboy1]

The New Yorker apartments are a huge dump, wish those things would be bulldozed, might be worse then the Alcazar apartments on 39th

It would be nice for someone or group to do some grassroots reporting on the conditions of this Building and impact on the residents, etc. Pics, and videos of the blight will go a long way. Interviews with tenants who express their concern and show the lack of attention by landlord/ownership group also powerful. Bring that narrative to the forefront and ask the question point blank why would lobby against development that would change the conditions and provide a better living situation for these people? Basically present the evidence in a very public format, and we know people are wildly swayed by images or words, and basically call then out for their own bullshit hypocrisy

[Walker]

The farm fields of JoCo, Northland, and Lee's Summit are being gentrified.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

The farm fields of JoCo, Northland, and Lee's Summit are being gentrified.

Exactly, and it’s pretty hard to flesh out transit to SFH and low rise apartments at 199th an 169 Hwy, so it’s all auto centric, which will further exacerbate the climate issues we already face. It baffles me that the large majority of people opposed to development are also the ones who claim to be so climate conscious.

[Walker]

The farm fields of JoCo, Northland, and Lee's Summit are being gentrified.

Exactly, and it’s pretty hard to flesh out transit to SFH and low rise apartments at 199th an 169 Hwy, so it’s all auto centric, which will further exacerbate the climate issues we already face. It baffles me that the large majority of people opposed to development are also the ones who claim to be so climate conscious.

the region and even core residents operate under the idea that KCMO alone should be home to all of the region's lower-income populations. Overland Park has no homeless shelter and minimal public or affordable housing. How is that not a problem to these people



*KCMO and KCK and Raytown and maybe a few more.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

Apparently I ruffled some feathers with a simple tweet thread that KC tenants is trying to go scorched earth on me now. It’s pretty obvious who this was directed at
https://twitter.com/KCTenants/status/14 ... 19296?s=20

[horizons82]

They've gone full MAGA at this point. High on their own supply. facts be damned. Expertise be damned.

It's all just how you feel and owning the libs developers and white people.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

They've gone full MAGA at this point. High on their own supply. facts be damned. Expertise be damned.

It's all just how you feel and owning the libs developers and white people.

Yeah, I was really confused as to why my skin color mattered. Isn’t that like point blank racism when you discount one’s opinion merely because of their race?

[Chris Stritzel]

It makes sense why KC Tenants are hellbent on wanting to ruin developers and new developments while pushing for free housing.

A quick search on Casenet reveals several judgements against the top 4 at KC Tenants (Tiana Caldwell, Steven Tyler, Diane Charity, and Ronald Clark) over the past several years and into the mid-2000s. Judgements on things such as not paying rent and damage to apartments are common. A few of them were also caught for not paying their taxes to Jackson County. The rulings were determined in the 16th Circuit Court. Most of these cases have "no contest" in their notes. Really makes you think...

[Anthony_Hugo98]

It makes sense why KC Tenants are hellbent on wanting to ruin developers and new developments while pushing for free housing.

A quick search on Casenet reveals several judgements against the top 3 at KC Tenants (Tiana Caldwell, Steven Tyler, Diane Charity, and Ronald Clark) over the past several years and into the mid-2000s. Judgements on things such as not paying rent and damage to apartments are common. A few of them were also caught for not paying their taxes to Jackson County. The rulings were determined in the 16th Circuit Court. Most of these cases have "no contest" in their notes. Really makes you think...

Are these folks actually out there trying to improve the city? Or are they merely trying to make property destruction and outright theft of a dwelling unit legal? The world may never know.

[grovester]

It's not unusual to see causes with good intentions get hijacked by bad actors.

See Occupy Wall Street.