KCRag Forum

This is awesome news. The height is fine for the block. Once kc gets a new contruction tower up and it fills up quickly, more should follow. A 30-40 story residential tower east of Grand or south of 670 would be ideal in the next few years.

Nice to see Cordish stepping up.

Now get the convention hotel done and the P&L tower converted to condos/apartments and get the momentum going again.

.

I'd like something like this...

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif ... o-astoria/

or this...

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2008-03 ... assy-tower

or this...

http://www.djc.com/news/re/11177029.html

I like the 2nd one but not the other two. With 98% occupancy downtown, high demand and the willingness for Cordish to invest that much, this might trigger another developer or two to at least take a look at downtown. It's not unreasonable to suggest we'll hear of another two fairly large projects by the end of the year or within a year.

I like the first building -- the Astoria in Houston. It would look good at 20th and Grand.

How about a smaller version of this?

http://s802.photobucket.com/albums/yy30 ... g&newest=1

Round buildings are okay for office towers, but they don't work as well for residential.

This building mimics everything currently being built around Portland. All the hype about Portland and its urban vibe is exibited in a building like this. Even though Cordish has been a pain in the ass, it takes some balls to build during tough financial times. I think it's great, hope every thing happens in the given time frame.

macnw wrote:This building mimics everything currently being built around Portland. All the hype about Portland and its urban vibe is exibited in a building like this. Even though Cordish has been a pain in the ass, it takes some balls to build during tough financial times. I think it's great, hope every thing happens in the given time frame.

To make this kind of commitment in this economy and with this housing market says something about our downtown I think.

kboish wrote:35 stories would have been amazing...but that included the hotel portion. 23 stories is still the tallest residential building construction in KC history...not bad.

Not sure what context or area the statement covers, but San Francisco Tower in Crown Center is 31 stories. It has always been residental.

perhaps they're measuring feet instead of stories?

Nice!

I wonder if we'll get some additional street front retail/office space out of this deal? Hopefully.

Very good news. 23 stories anywhere in downtown KC is going to make me happy, and I'm excited to see what the actual design will be.

By the way, perhaps the name of this thread could be changed since this is now an 'official' proposal.

that description doesn't sound like it. city should require it at that location. it'd be a crime if that didn't happen. last thing we need is another glass-enclosed lobby that appears vacant 99% of the time.

GRID wrote:Now get the convention hotel done and the P&L tower converted to condos/apartments and get the momentum going again.

Agreed except the hotel part. Do not want. Not falling down that rabbit hole.

I feel like Cordish understands and won't let us down on this aspect of the project. Now I have to go wash my mouth out with soap.

Just want to be on the record saying this is great news and kudos to Cordish for stepping up.

This seems to me like terrific timing, even though many would point out our troubled times. I know the "economy is bad" <<said with a Walter Sobchak Lebowskian "her life is in your hands" sarcasm>>. If companies are sitting on piles of chash (perhaps not developers), then a down economy sounds like a fantastic time to build huge projects. Labor is cheaper, materials are cheaper, gas is sometimes cheaper, good design is cheaper, and while you build the project out, the economy will likely get better, and your project will be the one that comes to fruition when demand returns while everyone else is still at the drawing board. There are probably many flaws in this way of thinking from a contstruction standpoint, but bad times are often great times to invest. Very excited, and thanks to the people with money who can actually do something with it!

DaveKCMO wrote:that description doesn't sound like it. city should require it at that location. it'd be a crime if that didn't happen. last thing we need is another glass-enclosed lobby that appears vacant 99% of the time.

The footprint really isn't that big. Great location, no question. But, when you factor in the leasing offices + lobby area + elevator bays + ground level storage, we're not talking about a huge lobby. They could probably squeeze some retail into the Walnut facing exposure, I guess.

But, Cordish's retail block is 15% occupied as is. And the City's ROI reflects this mass vacancy. I doubt Cordish or the City are too hellbent on adding even more retail space to this void.

Don't forget, the Jenkins Music Building across the street is also vacant and ripe for ground level retail/condos.