KCRag Forum

Good news for downtown Also, the new parking garage near City Hall opens next week. They will have retail space for 6 tenants, perferably restaurants and deli/cafes.

Two proposals for former courthouse revealed
By KEVIN COLLISON
The Kansas City Star

Rival proposals for redeveloping the old U.S. Courthouse were revealed Thursday, both focusing on returning office users to the building and providing much-needed parking.

The proposals, submitted by the MC Lioness project development team and the Zimmer Companies project team, differed primarily in the amount of investment contemplated and the prospective tenants. A decision is expected from the General Services Administration by April 15.

Brad Scott, regional director for the GSA, the federal agency overseeing the reuse of the historic building at 811 Grand Blvd., said he was pleased by the finalists' submissions.

"This is a who's who of architects and developers in the city," he said. "We're extremely pleased at the vision they have for the building."

The Zimmer team envisions a $37 million development that calls for the nine-story building, which opened in 1939 and was vacated in 1998, to become a "metropolitan enterprise center."

Zimmer has approached the Economic Development Corp., the Kansas City Area Development Council, the Mid-America Regional Council, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, the University of Missouri-Kansas City and others about becoming tenants.

"Each of these organizations have evidenced strong interest and strong initial support to pursue this further," said Hugh Zimmer, the firm's chief executive.

The Zimmer project is modeled after a similar center in Pittsburgh, which converted the former Alcoa Building into a regional development and educational complex occupying 300,000 square feet.

"This Pittsburgh center is just a great success story," Zimmer said.

The Zimmer proposal includes construction of a 1,400-space parking garage east of the old courthouse that would serve its tenants and the new Charles Evans Whittaker U.S. Courthouse at 400 E. Ninth St.

The proposal from the MC Lioness team carries a steeper development price of $59 million, and its backers say it would provide a more attractive product geared more toward private users.

"We've had ample interest, especially because it's an outstanding product," said James M. Stacy, president of MC Lioness Realty Group. "I have no doubt we can lease it."

Stacy said Quinn Evans Architects of Ann Arbor, Mich., one of the partners in the MC Lioness team, had extensive experience doing first-class renovation work on former government buildings in Washington, D.C., including the old Executive Office Building.

The MC Lioness proposal also calls for a larger garage, with 1,550 spaces, that would be clad in stonework compatible with the old courthouse and its replacement.

U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, a Missouri Republican who has helped set aside $1.6 million in federal funds to assist the 811 Grand project, said both proposals would fit his goal of making the building an economic engine for downtown.

"I'm excited about it," Bond said. "When we funded the new courthouse, I told Kansas City leaders we wouldn't let the old one be a white elephant."

Personally, I like the Zimmer proposal better. I keep reading about people saying that there is a lack of connectivity in KC. Here is a great chance to connect the downtown business core with the government center. Throw the public library into the mix and people will have some reasons to come downtown and use these unique facilities. The housing around the area won't hurt either. Let's find a way to make this project work during these hard economic times. Has great potential

Zimmer has won the bid as is expected to make the old courthouse into a center for non-profit and economic development companies.

Great re-use of this building.....should create more of a synergy in the area (buzz word) of development.

Should be reopen in 2 years with enough pre-leasing...they want MARC to be the first tenant.

Cool, and it's keeping pace with a reno announcement about once/twice every week.

Sept. 5, 2003
The Business Journal of Kansas City

GSA progresses in finding uses for federal properties

Jim Davis
Staff Writer

The General Services Administration hopes to sign a lease by January
with a group set up to turn the old U.S. Courthouse in Kansas City into
a center for economic development, nonprofit and educational
organizations.

Buster Rosser, the GSA's assistant regional administrator for public
buildings service in Kansas City, said it will be up to Metropolitan
Enterprise Center LC to find tenants for the space at 811 Grand Blvd. The GSA awarded redevelopment rights to the now-vacant courthouse in April.

Prospective tenants include the Mid-America Regional Council and the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City.

Hugh Zimmer, chairman of Zimmer Real Estate Services Inc., is leading tenant recruitment efforts for the building, which contains about 256,000 square feet of rentable space. Zimmer said he's confident about MARC and the EDC but hasn't signed any leases.

MARC Executive Director David Warm also is Metropolitan Enterprise
Center's president.

The old courthouse is among 927 vacant and underused properties
throughout the United States identified in an audit of federal properties by the General Accounting Office. The audit data is complete as of Oct. 1, 2002.

Nine other buildings on the list are in Kansas City. Six are at 607
Hardesty Ave. They contain nearly 500,000 square feet and could be ready for sale next year. The light industrial complex has been vacant for more than three years.

Before the GSA gets authority to make the sales, an environmental
cleanup must be completed. The GSA has been working with the state for
more than a year to remediate fuel oil that leaked into the soil from
underground storage tanks.

Bill Boos, deputy director in the GSA's portfolio management division in Kansas City, called the Hardesty federal complex a vestige of World War II that was used to distribute material.

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration later used the space
for training.

Several buildings on the site have been demolished. The GSA sold the two largest buildings about 10 years ago, Boos said, and they're now used for storage.

The audit also identified a building at 8930 Ward Parkway that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Depart-ment of Education now are using after it underwent a $9 million renovation, as well as two small buildings in the federal complex on Bannister Road.

The GSA also is preparing to transfer Internal Revenue Service employees from 2306 E. Bannister Road to the main post office at 315 W. Pershing Road in Kansas City. The post office building is to reopen in 2007 as a model IRS service center.

Boos said he expects the government will dispose of the Bannister Road
building now housing the IRS service center after the post office building reopens.

Law school mulls move downtown

By KEVIN COLLISON The Kansas City Star


The UMKC School of Law is being lobbied hard to move to the old U.S. courthouse, which would bring 500 faculty and students downtown.

The law school, now at 500 E. 52nd St. on the University of Missouri-Kansas City's main campus, has emerged as the first choice among potential tenants being pursued for the vacant courthouse at 811 Grand Blvd.

“We hope the UMKC Law School would be the anchor tenant,â€

"The redevelopment plan includes construction of a 1,200-space parking garage that would serve both the old building and the current federal courthouse. "

I am a little concerned with every single development having its own parking garage and/or lots downtown. When is enough, enough? Must every single building have an adjoined parking structure?


This would really cool if UMKC moved its law school downtown. I don't think it would have a negative impact as law schools often are on the periphery of main campus activity anyway. This could help rejuvenate the law school and give them a new edge.

That's a great idea. Not only would it put a large young professional population downtown, it frees up a big, beautiful modern building on UMKC's campus. This would allow the university an immediate expansion without eliminating any more green space or tearing down any homes.

Another idea - if umkc's law school decides not to go there, bring on MU's med school.

I am a little concerned with every single development having its own parking garage and/or lots downtown. When is enough, enough? Must every single building have an adjoined parking structure?

Agreed. Counting all the surface lots around there, it has plenty of parking...now if those left sometime (we can all hope) it might get tight so maybe this is planning for the future.

Either way, we have enough parking. Now the owners of the parking garages need to get together to make them more than just single use.

UMKCgal wrote:Another idea - if umkc's law school decides not to go there, bring on MU's med school.

I think there is already a site near Hospital Hill that is secretly proposed for the MU Med School.

This is incredible! I am looking at law schools now, and you can definently sign me up for UMKC if this deal happens. What would they do wiith the current law school? tear it down, or just move another school in? I know the conservatory of music is reallly pushing for a new building, could this be the location?

They'd be crazy to tear down the old school. It's a nice building, pretty modern, and UMKC is always needing more space. The business school, education school, and conservatory all all right nearby and could spill in nicely. Is Computer Science still at 4747 Troost or are they in that new building on Rockhill now? If they are still at 4747 Troost they'd be a good candidate for the current law building. Or perhaps Physics and/or Engineering if they haven't moved off Troost yet. (It's been a decade since I've been a UMKCer so I don't know who all moved into the new building on Rocckhill.)

I've heard some less encouraging words from key UMKC law professors regarding a move to downtown.

It would cost the UMKC law school an extra $2 million a year in rent, plus a subsidy for parking, to make the move downtown.

The law school is better than a lot of people think (recently moved into the top tier by a hair), but with the Republicans in control in Jeff City, don't look to see a lot of capital to be thrown toward UMKC for something like this.

Too bad, too. I think it would be a great move.

The upshot is: It probably doesn't matter what the professors think.

This is just a rumor i heard a few months ago, can anyone comment on its validity. Someone told me the law school was in danger of loosing their charter, because of a lack of "courtroom classrooms." Or something like that. I haven't seen anything about it in the student news paper, and have asked around and heard nothing. So i presume it was just a crazy rumor, or at least i hope so.

Could explain why they want the Old Courthouse. They want to use the existing courtrooms for labs.

Anti-move on the part of alumni appears in the letters section of The Star...

[quote]UMKC law school

Chancellor Gilliland should not line the pockets of a rich developer at the expense of University of Missouri-Kansas City students (4/3, A-1, “Law school mulls move downtownâ€

Thats what I was thinking fang.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit ... 487600.htm
I curse the idiots who oppose this. This isn't about them, its about something greater, downtown.

Devin, I think Jesus said to pray for your enemies and to bless those who despitefully use you.