KCRag Forum

I'm not going to discourage investment in Westport especiallly at that sight, but that design looks awful

^looks like a pre-fab Butler Manufacturing building but that's a hidden spot that badly needs anything functional. go for it.

earthling wrote:^looks like a pre-fab Butler Manufacturing building but that's a hidden spot that badly needs anything functional. go for it.

That's a horrible rendering. Can't tell anything about materials from the drawing

Highway Architecture

Noticed one of my urban pet peeves while in Westport recently. New businesses going into a space but leaving up an old sign, or tattered remnants of such:

Snow & Co left the giant old green "WESTPORT/BLAYNEYS" sign right over their front door (as did prior tenant).

Mills Record Co has small temporary sign beneath huge "Westport Broadway Antiques" on front of building.

I'm sure this is obviously a financial and/or landlord/contractual issue, but come on now, looking a little cheap.

W Westport gains at E Westport loss. Thriftway near Westport/Main closed recently, Natures Own at 43d/Main had a fire and said they would re-open but now they are moving to old Record Bar spot in Old Westport shops on W end.

Losing both of these are a big loss for E Westport and Southmoreland, which can't seem to get consistent momentum. In the last decade it's been a 1 step forward 2 steps back game it seems.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/business ... 23114.html

Honestly, I don't feel too bad for Southmoreland after they rejected expansion of their TIF that would have redeveloped the Hawthorne at 39th and Main. They wanted all the precious money to stay closer to their neighborhoods closer to the Plaza. Of course, streetcar expansion will change all of Main in a few years anyway.

E Westport and Southmoreland need to move forward no matter individual project support - streetcar will help but many years away. With Aldi announcing expanding 900 stores, the old Thriftway spot would be perfect fit. I was hoping for an OPUS type residential development in the old Keith Coldsnow spot but a doggy daycare is going instead. E Westport needs a couple decent residential projects to kick it into gear.

^ Old Katz on Main and Westport not being bought by a developer was a HUGE missed opportunity.

beautyfromashes wrote:^ Old Katz on Main and Westport not being bought by a developer was a HUGE missed opportunity.

It strikes me as being seized, just by a very different and valuable kind of opportunity.

What the current Drugstore culture is doing is to serve as an entrepreneurial pollinator. There's so much new and creative energy coming out of that place and I'm coming in contact with diverse pop-up businesses that either are or have been part of that art's community. From Overland Park to Waldo and Strawberry Hill KCK, Northeast Kansas City and on over to North Kansas City. They are stimulating a lot of change.

Get the streetcar built and you'll have no end of the kind of developments that you're anticipating.

^ Still looks like crap.

beautyfromashes wrote:^ Still looks like crap.

Sound like an art critic...

loftguy wrote:
Sound like an art critic...

You're happy how this building looks and that it's being used to its best potential for the neighborhood and to spur additional development??? I've glad the building has been open for the arts, but the church has done nothing to bring it back to any of its glory. A waste.

From the west Westport scene yesterday, the QT expansion across Mercier into the old Berbiglia store was passed out of council committee to the full council with no recommendation. QT has agreed to more landscaping, but neighborhood association is unflinching in their demand that Mercier not be made a dead end.

kcjak wrote:From the west Westport scene yesterday, the QT expansion across Mercier into the old Berbiglia store was passed out of council committee to the full council with no recommendation. QT has agreed to more landscaping, but neighborhood association is unflinching in their demand that Mercier not be made a dead end.

I think the quibble with Mercier is that it is being vacated which runs contrary to the recommendations in the Midtown plan. My understanding is that QT has agreed to keep it open to traffic, but they will privately own that portion of it. The design effectively makes it unclear that it is a street though.

The other major quibble is the location of the rebuilt store. Neighborhood wants it to front Westport Rd in compliance with Midtown plan. QT wants it setback (it will double the current size of the store, btw). The major reason they want this new store is that QT wants to become a fastfood/drive-thru restaurant, which is the last thing we need on Westport Rd.

Midtown overall could use a 'stop turning Midtown into suburbia' campaign, with a high level master plan the City can agree to enforce, and more detail per district.

kboish wrote:

kcjak wrote:From the west Westport scene yesterday, the QT expansion across Mercier into the old Berbiglia store was passed out of council committee to the full council with no recommendation. QT has agreed to more landscaping, but neighborhood association is unflinching in their demand that Mercier not be made a dead end.

I think the quibble with Mercier is that it is being vacated which runs contrary to the recommendations in the Midtown plan. My understanding is that QT has agreed to keep it open to traffic, but they will privately own that portion of it. The design effectively makes it unclear that it is a street though.

The other major quibble is the location of the rebuilt store. Neighborhood wants it to front Westport Rd in compliance with Midtown plan. QT wants it setback (it will double the current size of the store, btw). The major reason they want this new store is that QT wants to become a fastfood/drive-thru restaurant, which is the last thing we need on Westport Rd.

What the Westport NA presented at our Volker meeting was that QT wanted to dead-end Mercier, which none of the residents wanted. That coincides with some of the other reports I read including the Star article that mentioned some of the council members wanted to explore routing Mercier to the east for a block to connect at Holly, which would be made two-way for a block in order to address traffic concerns.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/business ... 21034.html

earthling wrote:Midtown overall could use a 'stop turning Midtown into suburbia' campaign, with a high level master plan the City can agree to enforce, and more detail per district.

...and less fussing about bricks.

DaveKCMO wrote:

earthling wrote:Midtown overall could use a 'stop turning Midtown into suburbia' campaign, with a high level master plan the City can agree to enforce, and more detail per district.

...and less fussing about bricks.

Good god yes. There was a perfectly reasonable plan put forth recently for townhouse at 34th and Baltimore that was just torn into by some on our neighborhood assn. The reason why? They were too modern. For god sake, they were attractive, hid their parking, and didn't turn their back on the street.

mykn wrote:

DaveKCMO wrote:

earthling wrote:Midtown overall could use a 'stop turning Midtown into suburbia' campaign, with a high level master plan the City can agree to enforce, and more detail per district.

...and less fussing about bricks.

Good god yes. There was a perfectly reasonable plan put forth recently for townhouse at 34th and Baltimore that was just torn into by some on our neighborhood assn. The reason why? They were too modern. For god sake, they were attractive, hid their parking, and didn't turn their back on the street.

That's especially funny since the urban renovation trends today are about taking the outside of older homes and making them more modern.