Cresta Bella - the "L" Shaped House

[KCMax]

I know this is technically outside the parameters of "downtown" as defined by this forum tag, but its just outside of it.

Here's a goodbye toast to that weird house on the bluff.

The Strip rarely passes up an opportunity to get sauced, especially when the booze is free and the party advertises a chance to throw one back with Mayor Kay Barnes. So a couple of weeks ago, this freeloadin' filet crashed the groundbreaking for a new housing development high on the West Side hill above Interstate 35. The festivities drew more than 100 well-dressed attendees, who sipped cocktails, nibbled salmon balls and grooved to a jazz trio in the cool, early-autumn air.

They were celebrating the new Cresta Bella project, eight single-family, Victorian-style homes on the bluff overlooking the downtown skyline. The developers are brothers Chris and Andrew Wilson, of the Wilson Development Group, who debuted on the local home-building scene with the Belleview Plaza condos near the Country Club Plaza in 2003. Their promotional materials boast that Cresta Bella is "luxuriously appointed with a multitude of state-of-the art features," including optional backyard pools, rooftop spas and outdoor kitchens. Starting price: $1.2 million. ....

[chrizow]

i think it's a shame no one has stepped up to rehab that house, as it added a funky character to an already funky neighborhood. 

i am sure the victorian mansions will be awesome...for $1.2M they'd better be!

[DaveKCMO]

that house was such a mystery/fascination to me for so long... i'm glad there's actually an interesting story behind it!

"new" victorian mansions? blech!

[macnw]

Heaven forbid the city should collect any property taxes vs letting dilapidated structures sit there for a few more years

[DaveKCMO]

i'm sure the new homes have their taxes abated.

[zonk]

FACT:  No property tax abatement @ CrestaBella.

[tat2kc]

The developers said they would have sold that home to someone if any interest had been there. I would have loved it! It would have had the all time best views of the city.

[Czar]

who is going to handle the marketing and PR of the project now that Michael J Alexander with Big City Marketing is facing time in the Big House?

[DaveKCMO]

FACT:  No property tax abatement @ CrestaBella.

show me.

[zonk]

Cresta Bella is not in any incentive area....must have incentive area designation for abatement....therefore no abatement.  Several attempts have been to overlay PIEA and LCRA areas within the Westside Neighborhood but have been met with significant resistance from the neighborhood group. 

[kard]

So is this development good or bad, or both?

It's awesome that there are no tax abatements on the new development.  Very good.

But some people like the old house.  (I think it's neat and all but needs a face lift).  I'm not too familiar with the new development, either.  Will it fit the neighborhood?  It's a very prominent location.

[chrizow]

i haven't seen any detailed renderings of the proposed "mansions," but i suppose they would fit in with the neighborhood since much of the area is of victorian vintage.  further, the neighborhood is such an architectural hodgepodge (victorian single-family homes, victorian duplexes, old apartment buildings, newer homes, the Plaza-modern-esque 17th + Summit condos, and of course the ultra-mod Dwell style homes) that i can't imagine it will destroy the feel of the neighborhood.

now, if they built some beige stucco mcmansions in there, it would remove character from the neighborhood.  the neighborhood is obviously an area in transition, and aside from the stratospheric prices for the cresta bella homes, it seems relatively area-appropriate.  it would have been nice to get more dense housing on that cliff though - e.g. some six-plex apartments with decks on the back, a la Chicago apartment buildings!

[loftguy]

The "mini-mansion" solution was the response of the developers to changing conditions.  They originally did have plans for more dense, multi-unit, Chicago-style housing.  However westside neighborhood activists were successful in getting KCMO to downgrade the zoning for the neighborhood to single family only.

Ya do what ya gotta do, with what ya got.......

[KCLofts]

You don't need to see any renderings.  There's already a house being built up there.  Clearly visible from I-35.  House is modern design - not Victorian.

They do have renderings in the sales office, which is in the L house.  Open to the public most every day, I think.  At least go up there to check out the view.  It's pretty nice.  Just be prepared to climb some stairs.

[chrizow]

wow....why in the hell would westside neighborhood activists prefer $1.2M mansions in their neighborhood versus apartments?  

well...whatever.

KCLofts - oh!  i didn't know that was part of the proposed homes.  strange.  i distinctly recall hearing that the new homes would be "victorian" in style.  i like the mod home being built there, so i guess i am all for it. 

[zonk]

I'm going to miss the L House.....Let's save it!!!   Petition Drive?

[kard]

wow....why in the hell would westside neighborhood activists prefer $1.2M mansions in their neighborhood versus apartments? 

If you owned a house across the street would you rather have renters in an apartment building or million dollar houses?  One will increase property values more then the other (apartments may move them down).

I'd rather see more dense development, too.  That's too bad.

[chrizow]

If you owned a house across the street would you rather have renters in an apartment building or million dollar houses? 

i could be wrong on this, but i am pretty sure the westside neighborhood association is comprised of the old-school westside folks who don't really want to see ANY Crossroads-ification of the area because of concerns about gentrification.  i suppose i take this proposition as the foundation for my inability to understand why they would challenge it...

[moderne]

The front (west) facades are to be somewhat Victorian, the back (freeway) less so.  The modernistic home going up on the end is actually not part of this development.  A few weeks ago I happened to be looking around the grounds and the owner invited me in and gave me a tour.  Two story living room with windows perfectly framing the PAC, soaking tub in master with corner windows overlooking Crown Center and Liberty Memorial.  Has two sets of stairs and elevator shaft, but elevator may not go in because way over budget.

[kcmetro]

The front (west) facades are to be somewhat Victorian, the back (freeway) less so.  The modernistic home going up on the end is actually not part of this development.  A few weeks ago I happened to be looking around the grounds and the owner invited me in and gave me a tour.  Two story living room with windows perfectly framing the PAC, soaking tub in master with corner windows overlooking Crown Center and Liberty Memorial.  Has two sets of stairs and elevator shaft, but elevator may not go in because way over budget.

Is this the house you're referring to? I was up there over the weekend since I'm actually doing a project for school on this area and how it is affected by the development going on in the XRoads.