KCRag Forum

Well on the thing they had on HBO about the Chiefs they showed Donnie and his wife with the crew finishing up their space in 909 Walnut, they even showed the building a few times.

^^^
KCP is correct, unit B is still for sale.
The Leawood couple paid $850,000 to $875,000 ( i just looked it up and already forgot).
Donnie Edward and his wife have been featured in several adds for One Park Place which show them in their unit in the building.

Appraiser wrote: ^^^
KCP is correct, unit B is still for sale.
The Leawood couple paid $850,000 to $875,000 ( i just looked it up and already forgot).
Donnie Edward and his wife have been featured in several adds for One Park Place which show them in their unit in the building.

Hmmm, I am certain that they had him in the 909 walnut building...did he buy it and then sell it?

Unit A sold for $897,000 (wrote it down this time).
Unit B was listed on 5-20-03 and went under contract on 12-3-04 untill 2-27-06.  That sale did not close and it went back on the market on 3-29-06.  It doesn't show that it has been under contract since.
I did not see the show (don't have HBO damm it) so I can't expalin that part.

Donnie bought initially in the BMA building and he's still there.

tella100 wrote: I toured the other penthouse for sale recently, anyone who has been up there care to comment on why you think it is still for sale (after about 3 years on the market)?  The price per SF is certainly comparable to other high end and SOLD penthouse units in KC.

909B is 2200 sf - we considered it a few years ago.  Mary Riffel was repping it at the time and we were not getting in a bidding war with another buyer, so it went into contract with an out of towner who later cancelled.  She called a couple of times after that deal fell thru, but we had already located a unit elsewhere.

It was listed at $600K which is on the high end, especially for a cold shell.  Other problems were present, including the ever-present Commerce tower light which is QUITE bright at nite and reminded me of the Kenny Roger's Chicken epsiode of Seinfeld.  Secondly, it requires a second exit for fire code which would be cost-prohibitive to create.  You do get the whole floor, including the south tower, which was not available to Allen Antin in 909A.  South tower was kind of cool - could have been a nice bedroom or office, but windows only had southern exposure.  Other quirks too - you would own a horrendously expensive unit in an all-rental (save for 2) building for 5 yrs until the developer's tax credits expire.  Also, if I'm paying that $$ for a unit, I want dedicated enclosed parking with a doorman and no need to take multiple elevator rides getting from my vehicle to the apartment.

Assuming you could get it now in the $200-225/sf range, costs of building out decently would be _at least_ $200/sf, for a minimal investment of $425/sf....which is fairly lofty, but not unheard of in KC.  However, the added expense of firecode issues puts it out of reasonableness for KC in the current market environment.  Plus, the upcharges from a contractor for hauling building materials up 29 flights and paying for disruption of normal activity in the lobby would be additional expenses.

Mary did not mention anything to us about the fire code/second door when we viewed it but it was just our first visit.  I do know that there is now a door going to the patio off the entry way (to the West).  Not sure if that is what you are referring to or not.

I have not been in it at night but wondered myself about the commerce bank sign.  Do you really think the build out would be 400K? I was estimating somewhere around 150-200 and I think I have fairly expensive tastes. But i was just ball parking things like wall repair, drywall construction etc, sounds like you put more thought into it.

You are right, the parking situation (for the $$) is less than optimal that is for sure.  And I think there is a good chance that you would perpetually be undersold by either the developer and then owner resales in the future. In other words, you would have 350-400 a SF into the the penthouse while the rest of the building was selling at 225-300SF including high floor units.

Since 909 was rehabbed, the Commerce Bank sign goes off automatically at 10:00pm.

tella100 wrote: Mary did not mention anything to us about the fire code/second door when we viewed it but it was just our first visit.   I do know that there is now a door going to the patio off the entry way (to the West).  Not sure if that is what you are referring to or not.

There was always the door on the west side to the patio and they would have installed one for the east deck if you wanted to finish that side off as a patio too.  Mary wasn't the one who mentioned the fire escpae - apparently, it is a second door to the stairwell that is in the east side of the building near the elevator core.  For apts >2,000 sf, there is a requirement for 2 exits out of the unit per se into an area where you can escape fire.  There are some structural elements that have to be modded in order to comply, hence the extra cost.

tella100 wrote: Do you really think the build out would be 400K?

I suspect so - we did an entire gut rehab to a unit here on the Plaza and costs were $143/sf for the rehab construction (minimalist contemp, open floor plan, 2200sf of Bamboo h/w, custom cabinets, high end fixtures DornBracht, Gaggenau, etc, but NOT SubZero).  Given the extra costs dealing with 30 floors in the air, the need for everything to adhere to commercial codes, I'd put build out at $200/sf, then factoring acquisition cost of $200-225, you're right there.  That might be high, but things never come in at what you expect 

tella100 wrote: And I think there is a good chance that you would perpetually be undersold by either the developer and then owner resales in the future. In other words, you would have 350-400 a SF into the the penthouse while the rest of the building was selling at 225-300SF including high floor units.

Amen!

right, seems like you need to be able to buy it where after your build out you are only into it at 250-275 SF.  Although Im sure it sells at some point. My guess is the developer will do the buildout when they start marketing the other units in 2010.

Appraiser wrote: Unit A sold for $897,000 (wrote it down this time).
Unit B was listed on 5-20-03 and went under contract on 12-3-04 untill 2-27-06.  That sale did not close and it went back on the market on 3-29-06.  It doesn't show that it has been under contract since.
I did not see the show (don't have HBO damm it) so I can't expalin that part.

I had a look at unit A about a year and a half ago. At the time the developer was asking 1.3M, so he obviously had to come down quite a bit to sell this one. It had a TON of issues to deal with, on top of the fact that no outside alterations could be visible, making it VERY hard to create a usable balcony space (how can you have a balcony on top of a 38 story building with no hand rails or wall?!?).

I was really intrigued with the possibilities, but the expense of building this unit out is going to be horrendous. I would estimate an additional 1M to finish the space in a reasonably grand manner. Several issues, including the fact that two additional modes of egress would have to be built for the upper floors due to fire code made this one a tough sell.

I'll be watching to see what they do with it.

uplights are being installed today on the walnut facade.

I'm glad someone is living there...but god I HATE their style.  Talk about Leawood in the sky.  I would have either gone modern and minimalist or some sort of 1920s-30s deco look.  Oh well.  Anyone see the 'windows' in the bedrooms w/ video screens showing outside views.  That is crazy, and kind of cool.

Yeah not my style but I will still be their friends for the parties.

Midtownkid wrote: Anyone see the 'windows' in the bedrooms w/ video screens showing outside views.  That is crazy, and kind of cool.

I actually proposed that a while back for my company...  most of us have huge windows but there are 6 people in an interior room with no windows and we were looking for ways to make their workspace less prison-like.    I suggested putting an LCD screen on the wall, putting a fake window frame around it, and then running a feed from a camera positioned looking out one of the real windows.  People loved the idea but so far nothing's been done.

I believe it is still the tallest residential unit in the Midwest outside of Chicago.

Yuck. If you want to live in an old country lodge, move to an old country lodge. that just looks....ehh.

coreyo wrote: Yuck. If you want to live in an old country lodge, move to an old country lodge. that just looks....ehh.

So only people who like modernist decor are allowed to live in urban housing? 

No, but that style is utterly 'suburban'...it just seems funny.  You can have a warm, homey style that is more 'urban' and less cheesy...but hey it's their place.  They can do whatever they want with it.