Cold Storage Lofts

[kard]

Is there an appeals process when it comes to the changes the inspectors require?  If so, is it fast and does it work?

[loftguy]

Kard.........the process for appeal is thru the City Planning Department, specifically the Board of Zoning Adjustment.  They meet twice monthly, typically, but I don't recall how far in advance you have to get on the docket for an appeal.  The process itself is typically fair and reasonable, but the circumstance is not.

To my point, I just happened to run into the developer of Cold Storage Lofts an hour and a half ago.  I asked how the project was wrapping up and he said that it has been the most horrible experience of his career.  (This, after over 20 years of development in six states)  He went on to vent about how bizarre and unreasonable the final inspection process is and that he is near to having a stroke over his experience.  He said much more, and I did not set the stage for this conversation.  It just happened, and it sucks big time.  This guy is on the line for $35 million of investment, has hundreds of people depending on his performance and is stuck in a process that is an abuse.  I can not find the words to express my frustration.


Board of Zoning Adjustment
Development Management Division
City Planning & Development Department
Development Management
The Board of Zoning Adjustment is a quasi-judicial body of eight citizens of Kansas City, Missouri appointed by the Mayor. Each member serves without pay or remuneration. The authority and powers of the Board of Zoning Adjustment are authorized by the Statutes of the State of Missouri, the City Charter and the Code of Ordinances of Kansas City, Missouri. The Board of Zoning Adjustment's role and function is to consider appeals from any order, decision or determination of the Codes Administrator, applications for special exceptions and conditional uses, and actions authorized by the City Council. The Board of Zoning Adjustment has the power to vary or modify any requirement of the Zoning Ordinance based on a determination by the Codes Administrator.

The Board of Zoning Adjustment conducts public hearings in the Council Chamber on the 26th Floor of City Hall on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month. View a link to the Board of Zoning Adjustment Docket.

The Board receives a report of the application from the staff of the City Planning and Development Department, receives information from the applicant regarding their request and hears testimony from other persons that may express concerns, opposition or support of the application. The Board considers all of the information presented to them and votes whether to approve or deny a request, uphold or overturn the Codes Administrator based on the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance, adopted land use plans and other planning documents.

[loftguy]

Kard........is the process timely?  What is timely?  Cold Storage will miss out on rents of approx. $150,000 if they are not ready to go, on Feb.1st.  This while they are making payments on construction for at least that much.

Does the process of appeal work?..........Sometimes.  Depends on the issue, the board members present and the level of support given by the staff people assigned to the appeal. 

Time is money, and the time you are gambling with affects the people who you are renting to, and developing relationships with, and when you are in a position where you feel that you are being abused and somehow extorted, you recoil from trusting the process to give you a reasonable outcome. 

Do you suck it up, pay thru the nose and do everything possible to deliver your product on time, or do you throw the dice, pursue what is right and principled and risk being stuck with the same outcome in the long term?

It's an outrageous situation.

[kard]

I think it sounds pretty lame.  I wasn't meaning to imply the developer wasn't following the right steps--I honestly didn't know if there was a process at all.  Timely?  If you get a paper today that says these 15 things are wrong, I'd like to be able to call a number and say "I have these fire doors, are they not to code?" THAT DAY and get an answer with in 24 hours.  Either they are or they aren't.

The City should be helpful in this situation.  If the process is broken then hopefully this tale encourages people to ask their Councilperson about it.  The squeaky wheel business is true.  We've seen it work here on this forum.  It is election season, and if I run in to a candidate I'll try to mention this story.

[loftguy]

Please do mention to your council, and mayorial candidates, as opportunity arises.  It's just one issue for the city, but it should be very fixable.  It must be fixed, cause it ain't fair.

Kard, I understood your question to be a request for info.  I'm pretty worked up about this issue so please excuse me if my response slopped onto you.

[deskside]

Loftguy - Do you think this abuse is happening on all projects to all developers?  If that's the case then it's a bad process and like you said needs fixing.  But, if not all projects are facing this then maybe it should be researched as to what are the similarities between the projects/developers that it is happening to. If similarities exist then it's corruption....kind of back to my hand slapping theory.  I'm assuming when this abuse and/or corruption is taking place the developers can't risk going to the media with their complaints for fear the city would get it's nose out of whack and then the project would be delayed even further.  Yep, this is a mess. 

[loftguy]

Loftguy - Do you think this abuse is happening on all projects to all developers?  If that's the case then it's a bad process and like you said needs fixing.  But, if not all projects are facing this then maybe it should be researched as to what are the similarities between the projects/developers that it is happening to. If similarities exist then it's corruption....kind of back to my hand slapping theory.  I'm assuming when this abuse and/or corruption is taking place the developers can't risk going to the media with their complaints for fear the city would get it's nose out of whack and then the project would be delayed even further.  Yep, this is a mess. 

It does not always happen.  Some of the inspectors, who provide final inspections, are quite good,  reasonable and professional, on most days.  There are others, who are regarded as a serious threat anytime they arrive on your project.

Yes, the development community is way hesitant to go to the media, other than off the record.  Nobody 
wants to be the target for retribution.  It's pretty pathetic.  You have millions on the line, you're being treated unfairly and you feel helpless to correct the wrong.  Guess one of us is going to have to grow some balls and scream loudly.

Was told last night that there is one inspector who will never again provide final inspection on JE Dunn projects.  Heresay, but interesting. 

[phna]

Shoot, before I realized there was a specific discussion on the Cold Storage I posted in a more general discussion. 
http://forum.kcrag.com/index.php?PHPSES ... #msg221583

[scooterj]

Have they been allowed to open yet?

[staubio]

There were lights on in a top-floor unit last night around midnight.  It made me happy.  Big, bright windows on the building do an incredible job of making the neighborhood feel more alive.

[briantsmith25]

They Just got their certificate on Tuesday... Finally. The leasing agent said that is has been a nightmare. But he did say that the same inspector has been assighned to all the new residential developments downtown. I wonder if everyone else will have the same problems. I'm moving in on March 15!!! Can't wait!!!

[staubio]

But he did say that the same inspector has been assighned to all the new residential developments downtown.

Yikes.  Time for a KCSS Live, Late Breaking, Investigative report to make sure there isn't more abuse that turns off developers?

[deskside]

I'm living in Cold Storage now but so far it's not what was promised.  The whole building went a day without water and then a week with only a trickle of water and no hot water. Supposedly the city had put the wrong size valve on to accommodate this large of a building.

My furniture was moved in before I could physically move in and before the construction clean up was done.  No water meant that I've been living in construction dirt. That coupled with that the storage units that are on each floor have not been approved yet  I not only have been living in a filthy apartment that I pay market price for, I have all over my apartment everything that should be in storage.  Think of having your garage, attic and basement stuff sitting all over your living area .... that is my life at the moment.  So even with the water back on I can't clean because I can barely move around my apartment.  Also, I have one closet where they didn't put the shelf up (these are very nice oversized length closets).  They didn't even hit the studs for the brackets for the shelf and so didn't put the shelf up.  Might be minor to some but in my current situation with boxes for storage all over the place it would have been nice to have that shelf up. I have since put it up myself (so much for paying market price) but nothing heavy can be on it. I have a toilet in the master bath that doesn't work.  The shower curtain rods were hung too high to accommodate standard sized shower curtains.  Luckily in the guess bathroom my shower curtain just barely fits .... looks ridiculous though.  The master shower is just a small step in so the shower curtain doesn't even come close to the step so I can't use that shower.

The washing machine and dryer are a joke.  The cheapest products made and they work when they want to. (I raised 6 kids so don't even try and say I don't know how to operate a washer and dryer, please! )

The mail room is not open yet so I have had mail on hold out of state for over a month now.

My only window in the unit will not open because the hardware for the blinds won't permit it to open.  I pray there isn't a fire and that window is my only escape (or only means for air) because I'll be toast!

The concrete floors are not what was promised.  There's a slight shine to it in some spots that I've managed to clean but no it's not the shiny concrete that was promised. I even still have a yellow cautionary line painted on the living room floor --- sorry that's a little too urban.....LOL.

Security was promised but I haven't seen a security person yet.  Not good since the underground parking is not open yet (I hear it filled with water in the storm the other night...may never open). 

I have voice mailed, emailed and hand delivered my complaints and the only thing they've done so far is to bring me a new washer, unfortunately the same brand. 

I understand that management is stressed with all the late move-ins and not all floors have been approved by the city yet but really I feel like it was romance to get you in here and then you become a forgotten child no matter how many times you try and communicate your needs.  All communication seemed to stop once I moved in here.  Management doesn't return phone calls or emails anymore.  When I  get a face to face with them they say they will contact me and let me know when such and such is going to be taken care of but the call never comes.

I'm not happy .... can you tell??  I think in all fairness that Cold Storage will eventually be a great place to live but at the moment I'm living in the most deplorable conditions I've ever lived in in my life.

Anyone else out there going through the same issues at Cold Storage?

[KCMax]

Wow, that really sucks. I'm sorry you're having such a bad experience. Keep up the complaints I guess. It sucks they won't even pretend to be interested in helping you.

[DaveKCMO]

The concrete floors are not what was promised.  There's a slight shine to it in some spots that I've managed to clean but no it's not the shiny concrete that was promised. I even still have a yellow cautionary line painted on the living room floor --- sorry that's a little too urban.....LOL.

try ZEP clean-n-shine. available at the ZEP distributor in riverside. unfortunately, there isn't an owners manual for concrete floors! if they sealed them, it should work wonders.

[skim82]

All i know is that this is a kick ass building, glad they turned rental... it'll be nice to see some more life in the RM.

[staubio]

It should be noted that these sorts of things happen to all projects.  If you are a first mover, you expect to deal with this stuff.  Even in the condo world, you deal with a lot of quirks if you move in before most people do.  This shouldn't dissuade people from taking a look at a top-notch project.

[LenexatoKCMO]

I'm living in Cold Storage now but so far it's not what was promised.  The whole building went a day without water and then a week with only a trickle of water and no hot water. Supposedly the city had put the wrong size valve on to accommodate this large of a building.

My furniture was moved in before I could physically move in and before the construction clean up was done.  No water meant that I've been living in construction dirt. That coupled with that the storage units that are on each floor have not been approved yet  I not only have been living in a filthy apartment that I pay market price for, I have all over my apartment everything that should be in storage.  Think of having your garage, attic and basement stuff sitting all over your living area .... that is my life at the moment.  So even with the water back on I can't clean because I can barely move around my apartment.  Also, I have one closet where they didn't put the shelf up (these are very nice oversized length closets).  They didn't even hit the studs for the brackets for the shelf and so didn't put the shelf up.  Might be minor to some but in my current situation with boxes for storage all over the place it would have been nice to have that shelf up. I have since put it up myself (so much for paying market price) but nothing heavy can be on it. I have a toilet in the master bath that doesn't work.  The shower curtain rods were hung too high to accommodate standard sized shower curtains.  Luckily in the guess bathroom my shower curtain just barely fits .... looks ridiculous though.  The master shower is just a small step in so the shower curtain doesn't even come close to the step so I can't use that shower.

The washing machine and dryer are a joke.  The cheapest products made and they work when they want to. (I raised 6 kids so don't even try and say I don't know how to operate a washer and dryer, please! )

The mail room is not open yet so I have had mail on hold out of state for over a month now.

My only window in the unit will not open because the hardware for the blinds won't permit it to open.  I pray there isn't a fire and that window is my only escape (or only means for air) because I'll be toast!

The concrete floors are not what was promised.  There's a slight shine to it in some spots that I've managed to clean but no it's not the shiny concrete that was promised. I even still have a yellow cautionary line painted on the living room floor --- sorry that's a little too urban.....LOL.

Security was promised but I haven't seen a security person yet.  Not good since the underground parking is not open yet (I hear it filled with water in the storm the other night...may never open). 

I have voice mailed, emailed and hand delivered my complaints and the only thing they've done so far is to bring me a new washer, unfortunately the same brand. 

I understand that management is stressed with all the late move-ins and not all floors have been approved by the city yet but really I feel like it was romance to get you in here and then you become a forgotten child no matter how many times you try and communicate your needs.  All communication seemed to stop once I moved in here.  Management doesn't return phone calls or emails anymore.  When I  get a face to face with them they say they will contact me and let me know when such and such is going to be taken care of but the call never comes.

I'm not happy .... can you tell??  I think in all fairness that Cold Storage will eventually be a great place to live but at the moment I'm living in the most deplorable conditions I've ever lived in in my life.

Anyone else out there going through the same issues at Cold Storage?

Boy - sure sounds like those city inspectors were off base when they said the place wasn't up to snuff.  &&&&

[tat2kc]

I'd send them a certified leter, listing all the problems, and give them 10 days to fix it, or fix it yourself and deduct the cost from next month's rent. send them the reduced check along with reciepts for the work you had to have done. I suspect you might get a faster response.  Or call the KC Star watchdog, and let them handle it. If the threat of a write up in the Star won't motivate them, not much will.

[loftguy]

It should be noted that these sorts of things happen to all projects.  If you are a first mover, you expect to deal with this stuff.  Even in the condo world, you deal with a lot of quirks if you move in before most people do.  This shouldn't dissuade people from taking a look at a top-notch project.

Well said, staubio.  The little stuff is a bit maddening when you relo your home (or biz), but the inconveniences typically become "remember when" stories when the dust settles.

Be encouraged about the outcome.  Your developer is a solid person with long history of taking care of his tenants.  You should expect the same.  Let them know in writing any and all issues that can and should be remedied.  Then be semi-patient.  They are being slammed by circumstances, some of which were beyond their control.  Good luck.