Status and future of the River Market area??

[FangKC]

The City Market has really gone down hill --and become less vibrant-- ever since they stopped the donkey shows.   :P     :lol:

[Tosspot]

Delaware Street north of 7th during parade in 1897.  All of the buildings are gone.  Sometimes I think downtown felt more like a city then than now.

Of that I have never had any doubt.

[staubio]

Another loss for the River Market in a small firm that is moving to the Crossroads. This could have as much to do with Meers wanting to own their own space as it does wanting to hop neighborhoods but it still doesn't help the vibe of the Market.

Meers is located in the Water building at 201 Main and is renovating a building at 18th and Walnut.  Hopefully the space in the Market finds a new tenant fast, though I think there are other empty spaces in the area as well.

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/s ... from_rss=1

[chrizow]

sucks to lose a tenant in the RM but i think the city as a whole GAINS due to the fact theyre buying and rehabbing a building in the Xroads.  i also like that the new building is (a) privately financed (b) going to have space for another tenant and (c) adding to a nice critical mass of creative businesses in the Xroads.

[kard]

sucks to lose a tenant in the RM but i think the city as a whole GAINS due to the fact theyre buying and rehabbing a building in the Xroads.  i also like that the new building is (a) privately financed (b) going to have space for another tenant and (c) adding to a nice critical mass of creative businesses in the Xroads.

Their new space is being tax-abated and they're applying for historic tax credits.  :/  But it's not new, so I suppose the infill is good.

Sucks for the RM, though.  Although I kind of like to think of the RM as an incubator for small companies.

[chrizow]

i'm fine with the historic tax credits...and doesn't the abatement thing have a sunset clause on it or something? 

[kard]

The abatements from PIEA are usually full for 10 years then half for another 15 (as in this case).  It's only on the improvements made.  Which could be a lot or a little depending on the building.

It's a good thing to have someone fill the space, but like the Universal move from the Plaza to (maybe) Downtown, it opens the door for more incentives handed out to fill the old space.

[kc-vino]

Again does anybody have any post 1960's photos of the area.  This always blows me away that at its peak in the early 1970's you just don't see any images.  Is this due to the stigma of somebody setting up a tripod in the Rivermarket area in the 70's?  If I was up to some shady behavior I wouldn't be that happy about somebody clicking away. 

Their must be images out there!!!

[TheBigChuckbowski]

Question: Does anyone know what's happening in 412 Delaware (properties north of Cafe Al Dente)? It looks like Bella Company moved out and something else is already in there, although I'm not exactly sure it looks like anything. The vacant space north of that seems to have new paper over the windows but I haven't sen any activity inside.

[scooterj]

Bella moved out?    They were there when I last walked by about a week ago.

The vacant space to the north is either a replacement for or a reincarnation of The Cup & Saucer and is being sporadically discussed here:  http://www.kcskyscrapers.com/newforum/i ... ic=8679.20

[staubio]

Bella moved out?    They were there when I last walked by about a week ago.

The vacant space to the north is either a replacement for or a reincarnation of The Cup & Saucer and is being sporadically discussed here:  http://www.kcskyscrapers.com/newforum/i ... ic=8679.20

Yeah, Bella basically vanished into thin air.  There one day and gone the next.  It looks like some sort of office is setting up in the space.

The space next to that is a replacement of the Cup and I think it is just a coffee shop.  They are supposedly working on restoring the original floors but from peering in the windows, it doesn't look like they are making very rapid progress.

[kc-vino]

The Cup space will be another coffee shop.  What that means is still to be determined.  Its progress seems to be moving very slowly and their is no hype being build.  I only heard about it from a friend who inquired about leasing the space for a bar.  
My personal choice and strong hope would be that the place would have the following: Late hours with WiFi, a place you could also drink at, some live music, a place centered around attracting locals not just 9-5 visiting lawyers, architects, engineers, business workers, etc.  The Cup had the right mix it just blew it with the restaurant and thinking to big.

Something needs to happen because as of now 3 out of 4 of the store fronts sit completely vacant.  Personally, I think the Bella art gallery added nothing to the area.  Maybe 10 times in over a year I saw some grandma walking out of the place on a Saturday afternoon.  Places like this, the flag company, the arts and crafts, are needed but IMO hold up a more vibrate and aggressive attempt at providing real services to the demographic that lives in the nearby 2-3 blocks.  

[TheBigChuckbowski]

I think Bella added more than 10 offices for attorneys.

[kc-vino]

Is their a law firm moving into that space?  Sorry about the confusion

[loftguy]

Bella and Company relocated to Weston, Mo.  They sublet the space to a couple of friends who have a graphic design company, but for only the remaining months of their lease (7-8 months?).

This building and a few others on Delaware have recently changed hands and the plans are to convert the buildings to condos.  The developers are reported to plan to make all the retail spaces into true retail, with the desire to find small, independent, local retailers/restaurants (not offices) that want to own their space.

Let it be true!!!!

[TheBigChuckbowski]

Is their a law firm moving into that space?  Sorry about the confusion

No. I'm just talking about the stretch from 3rd to 4th on Delaware that are all offices of some kind instead of retail.

[WinchesterMysteryHouse]

Good post, Wiz.  As for lily-white fears of the River Mkt.- security is street smarts.  The worst carwreck I've incurred out at megaintersection 125th + Whatever.  But nobody keeps their kids away from 'that part of town.'  I enjoyed Delaware st. before today's cool residential boom, miss walking/biking home from Cup + Saucer late into the night. 

[trailerkid]

But the City Market is key to this vision. It should serve the neighborhood at all hours.
Steamboat Arabia has considered moving. What a great place for a grocery store to complement the fresh food. If only there were a McGonigles class meat market to complement and promote one of the signature things that KC is known for: Beef and Packing. Isn't this the Heartland equivalent of Seattle's Pike Street Fish Market?

Also nearby: I can't shake the idea of a West Bottoms neighborhood that uses that connection under I-70 (Woodswether viaduct and Beardsley Road to complement River Market from the West. There's only one River Market, and one City Market and these are in the heart of Old Kansas City. 

The future of the RM is the City Market. A major issue is still the management. City Market is not being marketed or managed as a premier destination in the Midwest. CWB are not doing anything to make that facility live up to its potential. It needs to be a big city attraction instead of something on the periphery of the cultural scene. I don't blame Steamboat Arabia for wanting to move. City Market is more hanging on to the Steamboat than making the Steamboat want to stay. There is nothing at the City Market that a business can't find elsewhere.

City Market is basically a fruit stand compared to Pike Street Market. PSM is tacky, odd, and touristy; but that's the point. It is a multi-level destination point that spill out into the streets everyday. Management of City Market needs street performers, weirdo merchants, unique events and much more to become a true destination point. Right now they're just living off the name. Music Exchange would've been a PERFECT addition to the City Market and they should've paid Rooks to move there, but that opportunity is gone.

Perhaps an out-of-town management company needs to come in and show these guys how to pull something like this off. I really admire the woman who runs Zona Rosa for the way she seems to create nostalgic phenomena that is interesting. She would do a great job in turning around City Market. Anyways, the vision for the City Market must be much more grand and dynamic. The entire neighborhood could feed off that energy.

[TheBigChuckbowski]

Maybe us River Market residents should rise up and take it over.

[drgath]

Actually, the first thing the city market needs is decent produce.  I'll occasionally buy veggies there, but I stay away from the fruit & meat due to bad experiences.  Someone will probably say "Well you just have to know how to pick out the good from the bad", you shouldn't have to do that to not get unedible stuff.  If it's the "city market", I'll pay a premium to get the good stuff instead of taking a discount to get the stuff grocery stores reject.  There's no reason for people to come to the market because the produce at the grocery store in the local strip mall is 10x better.

The wine place, the italian grocer, and dutch flowers get my votes for who we need more tenants like.