KCRag Forum

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Isn't that a Bible verse.

WinchesterMysteryHouse wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 8:17 am Isn't that a Bible verse.

Yes, but I believe the business name is inspired by John Steinbeck's "East of Eden".

https://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/ea ... d-and-evil

Chances Social is open.

https://www.facebook.com/ChancesSocial/

tskev wrote: ↑Fri May 03, 2019 9:13 am

WinchesterMysteryHouse wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 8:17 am Isn't that a Bible verse.

Yes, but I believe the business name is inspired by John Steinbeck's "East of Eden".

https://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/ea ... d-and-evil

Oprah getting love, cool.

The Living Room, a performance space at 1818 McGee, announced it is closing after this season. They sent out an email stating

Full of gratitude for the nine years we’ve spent in our home we are announcing our tenth and final season at 1818 McGee. Due to soaring city taxes and rental costs in The Crossroads Arts District we can sadly no longer afford to stay.

I've attended a few performances at the space and think it was great. Its a shame they are closing up shop. The amount of shows they were putting on had declined over the past year or so.

Meanwhile, the Squeeze Box theater opened a few blocks away at 1519 Oak in the past year. Its an even smaller theater, so...?

Rent has to be increasing, but what are the "soaring city taxes"?

They should move to 18th/vine or NE.

I thought buildings with arts uses had tax abatements. Is that still a thing?

If rents are soaring in a building with a performance space, I'm going to guess the owner is looking to redevelop it into something else.

kboish wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2019 8:45 pm I thought buildings with arts uses had tax abatements. Is that still a thing?

If rents are soaring in a building with a performance space, I'm going to guess the owner is looking to redevelop it into something else.

Yes, the Arts District PIEA is very much still a thing. It was extended in 2016 and has the same boundary as the Crossroads itself. I'd be shocked if The Living Room wasn't already taking advantage of it.

The nearly 40 properties in the Crossroads occupied by artists or for arts activities will get a 50 percent tax abatement for 15 years. Taxes will be frozen at the 2016 assessed value.

So in 2031 all of the artists will be priced out of the Crossroads once the abatement expires...or it will need to be extended.

kcjak wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 8:01 am So in 2031 all of the artists will be priced out of the Crossroads once the abatement expires...or it will need to be extended.

I have serious doubts that Crossroads will still be the Art district in 2031.

normalthings wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 8:43 am

kcjak wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 8:01 am So in 2031 all of the artists will be priced out of the Crossroads once the abatement expires...or it will need to be extended.

I have serious doubts that Crossroads will still be the Art district in 2031.

Jonny Kaw's XR

I can see the blurb now:

"All 17 Johnny Kaw's XR locations include a small room where anyone can enable their augmented reality glasses to view art made by local artists; all the physical art is located in a warehouse/artists' colony (previously a Walmart) in the Northland.

The AR art galleries were a concession to the city in return for Johnny Kaw's successful request for a tax abatement through 2051."

normalthings wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 8:43 am

kcjak wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 8:01 am So in 2031 all of the artists will be priced out of the Crossroads once the abatement expires...or it will need to be extended.

I have serious doubts that Crossroads will still be the Art district in 2031.

Probably true.

SOURCE: Original gentrifier.

My bet is the next arts district will be west bottoms or the northeast. I could see it changing in the next five years, although probably more likely in the next ten.

Riverite wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 9:59 pm My bet is the next arts district will be west bottoms or the northeast. I could see it changing in the next five years, although probably more likely in the next ten.

The Westbottoms would be inline with the national trend of turning blighted industrial areas into arts districts.

1995-2025: Crossroads
2025-2045: WestBottoms
2045+: Historic Logistics Park KC

My guess is more scattered over time, which is already happening... W Bottoms, Troost, still Xroads, E Xroads, maybe 18th/Vine and NE Side soon. Could end up with smaller nodes of 5-10 galleries in various districts.

I would also add stretches of Truman Road east of Paseo, centered around Prospect.

At this rate though, the property values are nowhere low enough in West Bottoms or even along Troost to match what they were when the Crossroads got going ($50K for a modest building, or perhaps even a larger one). To get that low, you'd probably have to go pretty far east along Truman or south on Prospect.

Also, the art market may evolve into less of a artist-dealer-gallery model that requires less real estate. We already see a lot of artists exhibiting in non-gallery space, but mostly during First Friday. Regardless, to assume the local art scene will look like it did in the 80s or 90s when Crossroads started happening might be naive.

Soon enough we’ll be out of urban-form legacy industrial areas with building stock suitable for repurposing. Nobody will want to pioneer in a tin shed on a superfund site. This is why it’s important to preserve every viable pre-war building even if it’s not in a hopping area yet. Nobody would have envisioned the renaissance of the Crossroads or West Bottoms at certain points in the past.