KCRag Forum

Critical_Mass wrote:Wasn't Hard Rock Cafe the hip thing in the late 80s?? I didn't think they were still around. I remember everyone wearing their t-shirts or having Hard Rock Cafe pins on their jeans jackets when the New Kids On The Block were hot.....

Hard Rock Cafe is still popular and still building new restaurants, hotels and casinos all over the globe. They have good food & drinks, nice atmosphere, and friendly staff. HRC jus' opened new restaurants in Detroit and Louisville as well as Dublin, IRELAND, Cardiff, WALES, Catania, ITALY, Moscow, RUSSIA, and Nassau, BAHAMAS (all opened in 2004). Can you imagine walkin' up to the HRC and hearin' the Beatles song "Kansas City Hey-Hey-Hey"?

Planet Hollywood is nearly dead and has closed the majority of their restaurants.

why do you think that Planet Hollywood has failed, but HRC has not? I'd think that a hollywood themed restaurant would be at least as popular as a music themed one.

tat2kc wrote:why do you think that Planet Hollywood has failed, but HRC has not? I'd think that a hollywood themed restaurant would be at least as popular as a music themed one.

That's a good question as the food is about on par and not all that good at either (although I give HRC the edge)....one the owners of PH would probably like to know also. I've been to a number of each of these and here are my thoughts:

1) HRC got there first, established a reputation as a cool place to go(initially mostly among Americans travelling abroad) and expanded all over the globe on that reputation. PH was always the imitator.
2) HRC has a better atmosphere. Its cozy, has a nice bar whereas PH is cavernous and always seems to be rather frenzied. The musical memorabilia adds a touch of authenticity to HRC.
3) HRC generally (but not always) seems to have better locations.

Best HRC location? Try the one in Copenhagen if you ever get the opportunity.

tat2kc wrote:why do you think that Planet Hollywood has failed, but HRC has not?

1.) The food and drinks SUCKED!!! Although I collect(ed) shot glasses at both, my wife and I refused to eat the crappy food at Planet Hollywood.

2.) The actors/actresses that owned Planet Hollywood (Arnold Swarzenegger, Sylvestor Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, etc.) had disagreements, split apart, and so on...basically they lost key investors.

Planet Hollywood has reduced the number of restaurants in the United States from 22 to only 6. Many of their international restaurants are still doing well, so they didn't have to close as many of those.

I do know that Planet Hollywood is focusing on a new theme, basically copying Hard Rock, by wanting to open up a Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

QueSi2Opie wrote:

tat2kc wrote:why do you think that Planet Hollywood has failed, but HRC has not?

Planet Hollywood has reduced the number of restaurants in the United States from 22 to only 6. Many of their international restaurants are still doing well, so they didn't have to close as many of those.

They are down to 3 in Europe....Madrid, London and Paris (4 if you count an additonal restaurant at EuroDisney). Some, such as Berlin and Munich, closed. But there are many non-European international locations still around. The one in Munich was much frequented by Arnold and did rather well for a while capitalizing on his success.

bump

This block is the bottom half of this picture.  This is the only block in the entire entertainment district where absolutely no visible sign of work has taken place.    Anyone know the status of KCMO acquiring this building?

scooterj wrote:Anyone know the status of KCMO acquiring this building?

Just found the answer to my own question.

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansa ... tory1.html

Highlights...

Kansas City officials will buy the state of Missouri a new building in exchange for a state-owned office building at 1411 Main St.
...
Dave Mosby, director of the Missouri Division of Facilities Management, Design and Construction, confirmed that the Gateway Inc. call center at 14th and Genessee streets in the West Bottoms is "one of the sites we've looked at."
...
Edgar Jordan, Kansas City's manager of property and relocation services, declined to comment on the property to be bought by the city but said the purchase and swap could be completed within days.

On May 3, Gov. Matt Blunt signed into law a bill that authorizes the conveyance of the 1411 Main building to Kansas City.
...

scooterj wrote: Just found the answer to my own question.

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansa ... tory1.html

Highlights...

I guess this is now a done deal per today's biz journal. 


"State employees who work at 1411 Main St. will move to the Gateway building within three or four weeks, sources involved in the deal said. "

The city accomplished what they wanted but actively pursuing a deal that moves employees OUT of the central business district is a misplaced sense of progress.  This whole thing is about bringing people downtown.  The article states that other state agencies may also move to the Gateway building when their leases expire.  Everyone wants the P&L district to get underway but I think we need to be cautious over what steps we take to ensure that happens. 

Highlander wrote: The city accomplished what they wanted but actively pursuing a deal that moves employees OUT of the central business district is a misplaced sense of progress.  This whole thing is about bringing people downtown.  The article states that other state agencies may also move to the Gateway building when their leases expire.  Everyone wants the P&L district to get underway but I think we need to be cautious over what steps we take to ensure that happens. 

On the other hand, though, the Gateway loss is sucking a huge force out of the West Bottoms.  So maybe it's not such a bad thing to try to steer those who are displaced by the current construction into that area.

I am also troubled by the fact that the city didn't make more of an effort to keep those state employees downtown. There are several underutilized buildings or empty buildings that the city could have purchased for those state offices: 1006 Grand; the old Federal Courthouse;  909 Walnut; the HOK space;  the old Muehlebach Hotel; Citi-Center Hotel; the Midland Office Tower; Argyle Building; Traders on Grand Building; or the TWA Building on W. 18th Street.

1009 Grand is completely empty and needs renovating. Certainly the city and state could have figured out a way to use historic development funds, or MODESA money, to fix up that old building and then turn it over to the state.  What about the old Federal Courthouse?  The campus plan for it failed.  Is EDC still planning on moving there?  They could have leased space on the commercial floors at 909 Walnut.  Then there's the HOK space in the Garment District that will be opening up soon.  Several stories of the old Muehlebach Hotel sit empty, and all of Citi-Center Hotel is empty. I believe all stories above street-level in the Midland Office Building are empty.  Then there's the Argyle Building or Traders on Grand, that are either empty or partially occupied.  Isn't the TWA Building on 18th St. basically the same size?

How much vacant space is there in Oak Tower?  There was also at one time the Federal Reserve Bank as a possibility -- before Townsend bought it.  What about that old building that set to be renovated to the west of the new HOK building in the River Market?  They might have even saved the old TWA Flight Training Center on Baltimore and 13th St. and used MODESA and historic funds to renovate it instead of tearing it down.

Then there is all that empty space where a new state office building could have been constructed on the east side of downtown in the government mall.  It seems too logical to me to place state government offices in the city's government district.  Not to mention perhaps jumpstarting development on the east side.

It's not only the moving of downtown employees elsewhere.  The city has also helped to move former longtime downtown businesses outside of the city limits of Kansas City.  Justrite Signs went to N. Kansas City, and the formalwear store on Main St. went to Mission KS I think.  You would think the city would want to keep as many taxpaying businesses inside the city limits as possible instead of basically handing them over to other municipalities.  Granted the situations in both those cases were unpleasant and contested, but certainly the city could have found them space within the city limits of Kansas City.  I'm not so disturbed about the loss of those particular businesses per se as the message it sends to other longtime KC business owners about how little the city values having them in Kansas City.

:xMichael, I really hope your life stays on the up, because life turns on a dime my friend and I would hate for you to be one of those loser's waiting in the unemployment lines!!!

The majority of unemployed people who visited that office weren't freaks.  They were simply people who had been laid off or lost their jobs for some reason -- like during a recession.  People who become unemployed aren't always poor or uneducated people either.  People who are laid off in corporate jobs or other commercial or retail businesses collect unemployment insurance. For example, when enterprises like Montgomery Ward, Farmland, Gateway Computers, or American Airlines close down or downsize, their former employees are eligible. I'm sure there were former Sprint employees who live in Missouri who stood in line there as well.

Also be reminded that the unemployment office serves to help find jobs for the unemployed by maintaining databases of those seeking workers.

Those who were misbehaving in that area also roamed about all parts of downtown as well.  One also has to remember that on that stretch of Main were businesses like the Goldmine and Soakies taverns and the adult video store; and in the immediate area were two stripper clubs.  The former public library on E. 12th also was ground zero for panhandlers.

The problem was not  because the unemployment office was located downtown. It was mostly due to the City tolerating the bad behavior for so long.  We could have easily blamed a lot of the problems on the fact the public library was downtown, or the mass transit center. We can see now that it's not happening in the area of the new public library.  Much of that is a result of the "ambassadors" hired by the Downtown Council who provide security and patrol downtown now.

If one wants to place blame anywhere, one could also say that having the jail and criminals courts downtown added to the problem.  Those facilities certainly bring the criminal element into downtown.  Whenever the jail becomes overcrowded, inmates are simply released into the streets.  That problem would most likely be solved by not having the permanent jail downtown.  Instead, use the downtown detention facility only for those who have recently been arrested and need to be processed, and those who have court cases pending in the nearby criminal courts.  When they have completed those activities, then move the inmates to another part of town to be jailed for longer periods in a more remotely-located facility.  No inmates should ever be released into downtown streets unless they have been found not guilty in the criminal court and are free to leave the courthouse.

Demolition barricades have started going up around the state office building.

hey, i ended up in new york after getting canned in dc. better job. better money. no need to go to the unemployment line, just go get a fucken new job!! so, what is exactly planned for this spot since they are gonna rip it down??????

kcdcchef wrote: so, what is exactly planned for this spot since they are gonna rip it down??????

A few restaurants and perhaps eventually a residential tower.

so after they rip this eyesore out, it will get leveled, and the spot will immediately get dug out and the construction will begin? i hope??!?!?!?!?

kcdcchef wrote: so after they rip this eyesore out, it will get leveled, and the spot will immediately get dug out and the construction will begin? i hope??!?!?!?!?

On an urban design scale the new stuff will be nice, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking the new buildings are going to be any more architecturally noteworthy than this "eyesore."

Long wrote:
On an urban design scale the new stuff will be nice, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking the new buildings are going to be any more architecturally noteworthy than this "eyesore."

The futue P&L building stock may not turn out to be anything groundbreaking architecturally but I do hope it achieves a much higher standard both aesthetically and architecturally than that thing.  I mean come on it is a big brick square with some slit windows and nothing remotely pleasing to the eye about it.  It doesn't have to be an original I.M. Pei masterpiece to be lightyears ahead of that ugly box. 

Long wrote:
On an urban design scale the new stuff will be nice, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking the new buildings are going to be any more architecturally noteworthy than this "eyesore."

A cardboard box would be more architectually noteworthy than this building.  It isn't exactly a high standard for the P&L district to top and I'm sure it will.