KCRag Forum

normalthings wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2019 5:39 pm

KCtoBrooklyn wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2019 4:59 pm Are there any other financial services firms that employ 1,000 people in JoCo?

J. P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services (now under Great-Western Financial) employs around 1,000 (and growing) in Overland Park. Their lease there is up in either 2021 or 2022.

^You're doing a great job keeping your theory plausible.

They were apparently based in KCMO until about 8 years ago...
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/a ... ncial.html

TheLastGentleman wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2019 1:19 pm

normalthings wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2019 1:06 pmWhat about it is worth saving?

Compared to a lot of other low rise midcentury modern buildings, it has a lot of character. Parts of the facade are unusual, the entrance canopy shows some Googie influence, and the stonework around the base is pretty nice. It’s a charming building for what it is.

It also adds to the eclectic set of buildings around that area

Well it's like plopping down a ranch home (also from that era) in the middle of Hyde Park (and did happen). I can understand an appreciation for such designs because it represents a certain era but nah, it needs to go like utilitarian ranch homes among grand homes. And the word is it will be torn down.

However it is disappointing that a functional building is being torn down when there are so many surface lots downtown.

Will anyone here be attending the EEZ meeting for Project Decoy on 10/23?

So we could be looking at something like this by 2025

Would think new W&R would have larger footprint than old IBM. Those floorplates cannot be very large and then stuff in a core with elevators for 17 floors office(office buildings have more elevator per floor than residential). Maybe something trapezoidal to fit then entire lot from Wyandotte to Baltimore?

moderne wrote: ↑Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:13 pm Would think new W&R would have larger footprint than old IBM. Those floorplates cannot be very large and then stuff in a core with elevators for 17 floors office(office buildings have more elevator per floor than residential). Maybe something trapezoidal to fit then entire lot from Wyandotte to Baltimore?

The WR massing example I made had a floor plate of roughly 20K SQFT (Strata is 15K SQFT) for 340K SQFT over 17 floors. WR will be taking around 300K SQFT or less so a building 17 floors over the entire block would be too big (850K SQFT).

You've got to think they will build a 1100-1500 space garage too. So if you plunk that building on top of a 6 story garage that covers the whole block, i bet thats about what we'll get.

earthling wrote: ↑Sat Oct 19, 2019 8:53 am
However it is disappointing that a functional building is being torn down when there are so many surface lots downtown.

I wonder about this myself. I figured that the cost to tear down and remove material would push developers towards unoccupied lots but I guess there are other things in play as well. Are the 3 L's of real estate that critical? I think the other issue might be that some surface lots, especially the two south of Sprint Arena on Grand, are in reality businesses that probably are very profitable due to their location and the cost of buying these out makes removal of a small existing building more cost effective?

Highlander wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 3:41 pm

earthling wrote: ↑Sat Oct 19, 2019 8:53 am
However it is disappointing that a functional building is being torn down when there are so many surface lots downtown.

I wonder about this myself. I figured that the cost to tear down and remove material would push developers towards unoccupied lots but I guess there are other things in play as well. Are the 3 L's of real estate that critical? I think the other issue might be that some surface lots, especially the two south of Sprint Arena on Grand, are in reality businesses that probably are very profitable due to their location and the cost of buying these out makes removal of a small existing building more cost effective?

You must also remember that the majority of surface lots are owned by a small handful of owners.

^Might need eminent domain at some point? Not a fan unless it has a greater purpose than squatting. And it's not pushing people out of their homes in this case.

earthling wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:06 pm ^Might need eminent domain at some point? Not a fan unless it has a greater purpose than squatting. And it's not pushing people out of their homes in this case.

Higher taxes on parking revenues and higher parking lots property taxes will push these squatters to sell or develop.

Cities don't use eminent domain as often as people think they do. There usually has to be a clear public benefit (and building a new private development on a private surface lot isn't it).

Missouri statute:
Exercise of eminent domain over private property for economic development purposes prohibited--definition.

523.271. 1. No condemning authority shall acquire private property through the process of eminent domain for solely economic development purposes.
2. For the purposes of this section, "economic development" shall mean a use of a specific piece of property or properties which would provide an increase in the tax base, tax revenues, employment, and general economic health, and does not include the elimination of blighted, substandard, or unsanitary conditions, or conditions rendering the property or its surrounding area a conservation area as defined in section 99.805.

A further refined description of Project Decoy.

^Maybe more will come out of EEZ meeting this Wed.

Sounds like a good addition

I wonder if more of the financial services firms will move, a lot of younger people like living downtown, and it would probably make financial sense just on the basis of recruitment alone. Part of the reason I left Kansas City was all of my job offers were in the suburbs

Riverite wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 11:39 am I wonder if more of the financial services firms will move, a lot of younger people like living downtown, and it would probably make financial sense just on the basis of recruitment alone. Part of the reason I left Kansas City was all of my job offers were in the suburbs

SwissRe moved downtown a few years back and have loved their new location. Wadell and Reed will likely be the next to move downtown.

JP. Morgan's old Retirement Plan Services Division has a Sprint Campus lease-up either in 2021/2022. When JPM moved to OP in 2011, they signed a 10-year lease for a new 800-employee, 175,000-square-foot headquarters location (KC Business Journal. 2009). That group now has closer to 900-1000 local employees and continues to grow. The name "Project Decoy" continues to make me believe it's not about W&R.

U.S. Bank Employees maintains a large presence in Overland Park. A total of 1,300 U.S. Bank employees work at the 185,000-square-foot service center building in Overland Park. Their STL service center is in a tower their CBD so it appears that these types of jobs could come downtown at some point.

Alliance Data Sytems is a financial services company that I know very little about. However, they employ about 925 people on the Kansas Side.

There is fencing around the IBM building at 14th & Baltimore. It extends from the dog park at Truman & Baltimore to 14th & Wyandotte, where there is more fencing for a road project.

EDIT: Can't find any related permits for this. Only other comment is that it is right up next to the building.

KCDowntown

normalthings wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 11:08 am A further refined description of Project Decoy.

Project Decoy is 100% Waddell and Reed. Further documentation confirms Decoy involves a $90 million capital investment by the target firm. Staff recommends the approval of 75% property improvement tax abatement.