KCRag Forum

brewcrew1000 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 1:46 pm I'd be interested in seeing what the Occupancy Rate of the Crossroads Westside Apartments you can see from 35 are.

grecobs wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 1:54 pm These numbers seem really low to me too. My mom ran a mgmt company on the plaza with 750~ units across midtown/Plaza. They often sat at 100% leased but usually ranged between 90-95%.

GRID wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:59 pm https://cityscenekc.com/downtown-dazzle ... -saturday/

With the lack of downtown jobs (especially tech type jobs that appeal to younger people) you have to think downtown is reaching that saturation point of those willing to pay more to live downtown AND commute to suburban jobs.

brewcrew1000 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 2:44 pm

GRID wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:59 pm https://cityscenekc.com/downtown-dazzle ... -saturday/

With the lack of downtown jobs (especially tech type jobs that appeal to younger people) you have to think downtown is reaching that saturation point of those willing to pay more to live downtown AND commute to suburban jobs.

I don't think its downtown jobs only, you also have to look at the suburbs and the increased competition from the suburbs. Its not like KCMO is the only place building apartments attractive to young people. Lenexa City Center, Overland Park and other suburbs are building just as nice of apartments and they offer lots of the same amenities, have easy/hassle free parking, they are also relatively car break-in/crime free.

GRID wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 3:09 pm

brewcrew1000 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 2:44 pm

GRID wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:59 pm https://cityscenekc.com/downtown-dazzle ... -saturday/

With the lack of downtown jobs (especially tech type jobs that appeal to younger people) you have to think downtown is reaching that saturation point of those willing to pay more to live downtown AND commute to suburban jobs.

I don't think its downtown jobs only, you also have to look at the suburbs and the increased competition from the suburbs. Its not like KCMO is the only place building apartments attractive to young people. Lenexa City Center, Overland Park and other suburbs are building just as nice of apartments and they offer lots of the same amenities, have easy/hassle free parking, they are also relatively car break-in/crime free.

Right, but that's also my point. If you work at some office park in OP, then chances are you are going to want to live in a place like City Center or any of the other many places. Why would you pay more to live downtown, pay for parking and drive everyday to Overland Park or Lenexa (or other area suburbs like the Cerner campuses) when you can live 5-10 minutes away in a nice apartment community. I think even the most die hard people that really want to live in the city will grow tired of the lifestyle and cost of living downtown and commuting.

Downtown KC has far too few jobs for the size of the metro. KC has more suburban office parks than cities twice its size. And to make things worse, a large portion of the jobs that are downtown are government type jobs which typically have much older more suburban demographic. Downtown KC is totally lacking a large number of tech type jobs.

If Cerner was building 4 million sq feet (even 500k would do wonders) downtown, then you would see this apartment construction continue to boom.

I have always said that KC's urban apartment boom will come to a premature halt once the city catches up from basically having nothing at all. I think downtown KC may be hitting that magic number of who is currently working downtown along with those willing to commute. That pent up demand to live downtown has been met, but that growth was not sustainable once that market demand was met. And KC was so late to the downtown true luxury housing market that it sort of missed a large portion of the baby boomers moving to downtowns like Denver, MSP, Austin etc.

Downtown KC has absolutely got to get some major companies downtown (or just lots of smaller companies) or the downtown boom is going to slow to a crawl. Most people choose to live in high cost of living urban areas, deal with parking costs etc to avoid commuting. Very few people are going to choose to live downtown when it cost less to live a few miles away in similar apartment with similar amenities or get their own single family home.

FYI, I'm not pissing on KC here. I just really do think that the lack of any real corporate presence downtown is going to really start to slow growth just when things look like they are really doing well with all the new projects going up. I would have thought by now (with all the new residents) that there would be at least some "sizable" office construction going up and at least one major relocation from the suburbs. But as far as where companies want to be, KC is still stuck in 1989.