KCRag Forum

The Luzier Cosmetics Building, 3216 Gillham Plaza , KCMO, is listed on the Historic Kansas City Foundation's Watch List. The building was designed by Nelle Peters, who designed many houses and apartment buildings in KCMO.

Forum, what are some good reuses for this building?

Nelle Peters biography

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... OX=1&REC=2

I drive by this building every day and about 6 months ago tried to figure out what it was and if it was still in use. I found this blog entry - two years ago it looks like it was still in use as a workshop for historic preservation. No idea if that's still the case.
http://meredithhost.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... art-2.html

I cannot think of any kind of reuse for this building, it just kind of sticks out there with nothing to much around it besides a busy intersection and the back of costco.

Could easily be offices. Would be cool to construct a new building next to it that hugs the round corner.

brewcrew1000 wrote:I cannot think of any kind of reuse for this building, it just kind of sticks out there with nothing to much around it besides a busy intersection and the back of costco.

The upside: abundant parking!

brewcrew1000 wrote:I cannot think of any kind of reuse for this building, it just kind of sticks out there with nothing to much around it besides a busy intersection and the back of costco.

So... surface lot?

Seriously, while the spot that it is in does have something lacking, there have been examples that have made due with much worse; the scenery across the street isn't too bad, and it shouldn't be too hard to improve immediate area around the building itself. Turn one of the lots into a park. Plant trees behind to block out the Costco. Put a building on one or both sides.

As for actual use of the building: retail, small office spaces, or a clinic. The facade has all the fixings for a welcoming entrance.

I've been thinking a lot about this building today. One problem that this building faces in terms of restoration is the price of materials. It demands to be incredible, with the highest quality materials used. This was a grand building when built.

I think it could make for some really cool lofts. And keeping the interior relatively bare bones could potentially save money on the restoration, making it more feasible. The price would most likely still be high though. Maybe Mac properties would be interested in doing a smaller project...

It needs to happen soon though. No doubt the wrong people have noticed how bad of shape it is in. The same goes for the Nelle Peters building a block away on Linwood. I'm scared that some day I will stop by the area and notice them both gone. That would be a seriously sad day for Kansas City architecture.

small office space. like a insurance agent or similar

someone that the costco traffic doesn't matter

From dangerous building to Upcycling Center: dreams for the Acme Building

Still, Lazarus Potter would like to turn the building into an Upcycling Center— the trendy name for a community wood, metal, art and machine shop, with classes on ways to upgrade household goods. He would also like to house a Habitat Restore-like repository for surplus art supplies.

“ I love that building. We’ve been in several times. We’d love to have the opportunity to protect it,’’ Potter says, estimating it would take about $300,000 of interior improvements to get the structure into serviceable shape. He and Alison Muller are researching funding opportunities to realize their dream, and hope to approach city and county officials with a plan in the coming months.

This is not the same building as the one listed and pictured in the original post. It is one block east. While it is a cool building, it has a lot of problems, including environmental ones. I'd be surprised if it could be repurposed for $300,000.

Ah, my bad.

Butch Rigby is marketing the Luzier Cosmetics Building for renovation.

Here's hoping. Walked by there Sunday such a lovely building.

Genuinely concerned about Butch renovating this building. He's not, ah, terribly sensitive to historic integrity.

Ah, can you give an example that causes your concern? I believe he has done more than one certified historic rehab and the guidelines and standards are pretty strict and require approval. The Armour Theater is an excellent example.

While the tax credits are nice, the process is a bitch. I'm not sure if this building is going for historic tax credits, but I imagine it probably is.

Can it get historic tax credits when so much of the building is already torn down? Half of the building was chopped off for Costco.

The interior is gutted I'm sure. It's really just a historic facade. But I definitely want to see that beautiful facade kept and restored...and I do believe that is Butch's plan.

I'm really really happy about this. Linwood has enough historic fabric left that I think it can be an amazing corridor once again. We just need to get rid of the fried chicken and checks cahsed places and replace them with appropriately scaled buildings.

taxi wrote:Ah, can you give an example that causes your concern? I believe he has done more than one certified historic rehab and the guidelines and standards are pretty strict and require approval. The Armour Theater is an excellent example.

While the tax credits are nice, he process is a bitch. I'm not sure if this building is going for historic tax credits, but I imagine it probably is.

Recently he's done some pretty rough stuff to his buildings on east 63rd. If he goes the tax credit route, I'm not worried at all. We used did tax credits on our house so I know how strict the process is.

Also- Land Bank has proposals lined up on 3200 Gillham, one block east. Believe they're being shown at the September Hyde Park NA meeting.

chaglang wrote: Recently he's done some pretty rough stuff to his buildings on east 63rd.

I'd rather see developers doing the kind of thing Rigby is doing on east 63rd and paying their fucking taxes. That stretch looks better than it has since the 60s.

I would imagine that the facade fronting Gillham is the only part of the building worthy of preservation. The rest of the building appears to be a concrete block structure, and the interior of much of the building is probably fairly non-descript. That part of the structure probably won't require a lot of "preservation."

If Rigby seeks placement on the historic register, it's very possible that he will seek to only get the facade placed, and it will be the only part of the building that is required to be renovated under historic preservation guidelines. It's the significant part.

If the entire building is placed, then guidelines still allow for modifications and upgrading of the interior space if that space doesn't have significant historic elements that need to be preserved.

If he doesn't seek historic status, and just renovates without incentives, I really doubt he would change the facade anyway because that's really the only thing that makes the building special. The facade doesn't appear to be in that bad of shape. It probably just needs some maintenance and cleaning. The biggest expense in restoration might well be restoring the windows.