OFFICIAL - East Village

[FangKC]

From the KC Star article:

Among the problem properties that developers and city officials would like to see removed are the Cherry Street Inn at Tenth and Cherry, a service station at Tenth and Locust, and the former MC Sporting Goods building and garage at 12th and Holmes

“We want to make certain the whole area by the park — the gas station and all that kind of stuff — somehow goes away,â€

[KC0KEK]

Offers will be made that cannot be refused.

[ignatius]

Hmm.. there are two threads going.  Need to combine them.

[ComandanteCero]

I hope this doesn't happen.............  I would hope that with the P+L district being built most new development would happen in a more organic and piece meal way.  Sure this development would be an improvement over what's presently there, but that's because just about anything is better than a  bunch of crappy buildings and surface lots.  Doesn't make it the best idea for the long term direction the loop should take.  Awesome, multi layered, and diverse downtowns aren't made by large projects like Quality Hil.  No need to continue assembling large chunks of downtown for these developers.  We need to encourage and attract single building developers and projects if we want the loop to live up to its potential.  It may take longer to develop the area in an organic manner, but i'm guessing it will be look and feel much cooler than having 12 blocks of obviously similar buildings and construction.  There are plenty of areas in downtown Chicago (both in the near north and the south loop) that have large surface lots that are being gradually built up, one building and one project at a time, and it doesn't take away from the areas that work.  City building is a gradual process.  I'm almost certain that once the P+Ldistrict is up and running, and all the other residential buildings come on line that the market will gradually fill up lots and expand eastwards over the years.

[diamond]

yeah Comand that would be great.  So my great great grandchildren can be around to see it build up that way. 

[Rusty]

No need to continue assembling large chunks of downtown for these developers.

Are there even any large chunks left in the loop?

[ComandanteCero]

er,i guess i'm an optimist?  But seeing as no one would have dreamed at the amount of development happening downtown today, i don't see why there couldn't be large scale piece meal development within our lifetimes.

[dangerboy]

I hope this doesn't happen.............  I would hope that with the P+L district being built most new development would happen in a more organic and piece meal way. 

That organic development usually happens when you have existing structures that can diferrent people can renovate one by one.  For example, the Crossroads, River Market, West Bottoms, Union Hill, W. 39th St., etc. 

This kind of unplanned development seems really hard to do when there are almost no structures still standing.  With such a blank slate, I think a master developer is needed.  Otherwise it could take 20 years to fill in the parking lots if we have to wait for individuals to erect new buildings.

[Long]

I agree with Comandante--  we've brought in the major developments needed to really get the ball rolling, to get people back into the city

The Chicago example is a good one.  P&L and all the residential development is filling in the most glaring holes in the loop, let the periphery develop at its own pace

We should now encourage development on an individual scale.  There should still be a masterplan to follow-- don't let anyone just come along and build whatever they want whereever they want.  Not to say the masterplan couldn't be modified, as long as the masterplan architect/urban planner is involved in the change process to make sure the spirit, continuity, integrity, etc. of the masterplan is preserved.

We now have a good momentum going with the P&L district and all the residential development-- let's not get greedy and short-sighted.  When the current development comes online and the people move in, the market will dictate what happens with future development.  If the demand is truly there, it will get built. 

[Rusty]

How big is Millennium Park?

[diamond]

First things must happen to get ball rolling on east side.  Cherry St inn and the Gas station need to get blown up.  The city needs to help with this but I'm sure they won't spend the resources until they know there is a plan or high demand.

[WorldTraveler]

Dubious at best. I want to see this area filled in in the next five years. I don't care how it happens. Speculation about how that may or may not be a good thing is just that: speculation.

[KCwriter]

I'm not sure on the size of Millenium Park, but from what I remember at my last visit, it takes up two or three blocks on the north side of Grant Park.

Are you suggesting we do something similar here?  

The idea is overall good.  I agree that whichever developers get involved should at least try to vary the building styles.  The Star article quoted one as saying that they would use "a lot of brick".  I suppose that is fine, but I don't want them to take some New York brownstone neighborhood and photocopy it.  I don't even want a photocopy of Quality Hill, though it is good.

I also contend that the plan is not yet to the right scale for the part of the East Villiage bordering Locust and the Park.  Removing that gas station is a great idea, but it sounds like the buildings along Locust would only go up about 7 to 9 stories.  The park is framed on the west side by the Oak Tower, on the South by City Hall, and on the North by the Federal Courthouse.  The East side should have at least one tall building just to keep some sort of visual balance.

Also, look at the new residential towers being planned in and around the P&L District.  All that I can remember are at least 10-12 stories tall, with the first Cordish one going 17-22 stories.  If demand continues the next few years, East Villiage should be planned with a couple high rise residential towers on its western edge.  

I suppose the thing we should all remember here is that this plan is just being announced today.  It will be a little while before bulldozers roll in the area, so there is a better than average chance that the plan will be tweaked.  P&L will be finishing up before construction hits full steam on East Villiage, so there is time for modification.

Also, I agree that the name "East Villiage" sounds like we're ripping it off from NYC.  Perhaps we could come up with some suggestions for a new name.  (Please avoid the vulgar if at all possible.  I'm seriously curious about this name thing).   How about "Federal Hill" or "(Charlie) Parker Villiage"? 

[moderne]

    Hopefully this will mean some shops, services, and cafes in a few years for us pioneers at the View.  We need something withing walking distance other than the c-store and Cherry St Inn ho's.

[GRID]

Your kidding right?  Develop the eastside of the loop, I don't care if they put a carbon copy of Quality Hill in there. That area will take 200 years to devleop on property at a time.

There is plenty, an absolute ton of places where the smaller development can and do occur and there will still be plenty of room in the east loop to do smaller developments.

KC needs to catch up and its going to take a combination of large scale projects and smaller infill projects to make it happen.

[Big Red Storm]

Your kidding right?  Develop the eastside of the loop, I don't care if they put a carbon copy of Quality Hill in there. That area will take 200 years to devleop on property at a time.

There is plenty, an absolute ton of places where the smaller development can and do occur and there will still be plenty of room in the east loop to do smaller developments.

KC needs to catch up and its going to take a combination of large scale projects and smaller infill projects to make it happen.

I completely agree with you and Dangerboy.  There is absolutely nothing there now, so it would be very difficult to make development organic.  Once this project is complete there will only be a few more areas in the loop that need developing, and I think those can be and will be organic, except for maybe the north loop.

I'm very excited for this.  Soon, downtown will be completely awesome.

[archjet06]

Also, I agree that the name "East Villiage" sounds like we're ripping it off from NYC.  Perhaps we could come up with some suggestions for a new name.  (Please avoid the vulgar if at all possible.  I'm seriously curious about this name thing).   How about "Federal Hill" or "(Charlie) Parker Villiage"? 
[quote][/quote]

how about "foxrun east at courthouse downs", just kidding.  maybe "federal common" or "loop east" (generic, yes, but at least its not another rip-off).

[WorldTraveler]

If we put a stadium downtown we could have Kauffmanville...

[KCwriter]

Good with the Kauffmanville, but we can't place a baseball stadium everywhere we have a hole downtown.  That stadium has been discussed for at least a dozen downtown locations on these pages and in the local media!

If the PAC officially goes to the Lyric, then lets once and for all decide to park a new Royals stadium at 16 & Broadway and be done with it.

An East Loop baseball stadium wouldn't have the best view of the skyline, and a number of streets would be cut off.  I say if we're going to spend the money to put a ball stadium downtown, we ought to shop for the best lot with the best view.

This East Villiage, East Loop, East Whatever will at least keep the street grid intact and bring some street life.

And Grid, while I appreciate your frustration at the slow pace and disappointing history of past KC development, lets not be so desperate for any development that we'll overlook fresh creative thinking and design in the East Loop in favor of something that's been done.  Quality Hill is great, but why not spice up the East Side with something fresh.

All I'm saying is that great cities large and small shop for the good design in important projects; they don't settle all the time for a rehash just because its fast and will fill a hole.  We are reviving all of downtown, and we want it to be distinct.  I don't want it to take 40 years to fill all the holes either, but I want development thats built to last.

Since we're talking about filling in holes in the Loop, does anybody have an idea for the North Loop?  Do we have a thread on that?

[Marreekarr]

The Cherry Street Inn just happens to be a place where people who are trying to get off of the streets by doing day labor or some other kind of entry level work can get a cheap room to shower and get a good nights rest before going back to whatever is putting money in their pockets the next day.  In other words, lets make sure we get rid of the people on the bottom rung of the ladder so that they can't be a part of revitalization efforts.  I can't wait to see the East Loop redeveloped, even with something upscale, but don't sell me this crap that certain establishments have got to go before we even get started.  Those certain establishments happen to serve a segment of the population most of us want to ignore.  And those certain establishments are economically viable precisely because of the population that they serve.