Downtown tower construction boom in 2020?

[GRID]

Large scale New Construction projects. Downtown KC might see more tower cranes than it has seen since the building boom of the mid 1980's.

Hyatt House at 9th and Broadway
Waddle & Reed HQ at 14th and Baltimore
Three Light at Truman and Main
Strata at 13th and Main
Office Tower at 13th and Wyandotte

Proposals
KC Southern HQ and Convention Center garage at 12th and Broadway
Large mixed use tower at 14th and Wyandotte
Multi Tower development at 16th and Broadway
Office building at 3rd and Grand
Two ten story towers on the Riverfront
Hotel Bravo at 16th and Wyandotte
Tracks project in the crossroads
I'm sure there are many others.

Will 2020 be the year the "twisty tower" gets off the ground? Downtown really needs that project to happen. The infill projects west of Grand are amazing, but something needs to happen east of Grand.

[normalthings]

Large scale New Construction projects. Downtown KC might see more tower cranes than it has seen since the building boom of the mid 1980's.

Hyatt House at 9th and Broadway
Waddle & Reed HQ at 14th and Baltimore
Three Light at Truman and Main
Strata at 13th and Main
Office Tower at 13th and Wyandotte

Proposals
KC Southern HQ and Convention Center garage at 12th and Broadway
Large mixed use tower at 14th and Wyandotte
Multi Tower development at 16th and Broadway
Office building at 3rd and Grand
Two ten story towers on the Riverfront
Hotel Bravo at 16th and Wyandotte
Tracks project in the crossroads
I'm sure there are many others.

Will 2020 be the year the "twisty tower" gets off the ground? Downtown really needs that project to happen. The infill projects west of Grand are amazing, but something needs to happen east of Grand.

I would add the Crown Center Office Tower to proposals.

In regards to 13th & Grand: IIRC, Copaken Brooks has TIF approved for a 270,000-square-foot structure that can be office, hotel or residential space, along with a 1,300-space parking garage. CB has until 2023 to start construction and 2026 to complete the building. So it is my understanding that they don't need any additional approvals for the incentives.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/busine ... rylink=cpy

[KCPowercat]

Exciting!

[miz.jordan17]

Any news on the Crown Center proposal being marketed by Newark Grubb Zimmer?

[earthling]

Am not a size queen but would be nice to see a new tallest or two this decade that don't stand out too awkwardly. Might have to be a hotel/office/residential tower to happen. The Bravicci 14th/Wyandotte potential project could be that opportunity if developer can pull off the financing. Is impressive that KC continues to fill up high rent residential, which could attract more national hirise residential developers. If Bravicci succeeds attracting outside investment from India, perhaps more Indian financed buildings could happen (as happened last couple decades in Vancouver with Hong Kong investors).

OTOH, ground level enhancement of ped friendly street vibe for every downtown development is more important than new tallest but would be nice to see some skyline changing developments.

[flyingember]

Large scale New Construction projects. Downtown KC might see more tower cranes than it has seen since the building boom of the mid 1980's.

Hyatt House at 9th and Broadway
Waddle & Reed HQ at 14th and Baltimore
Three Light at Truman and Main
Strata at 13th and Main
Office Tower at 13th and Wyandotte

Proposals
KC Southern HQ and Convention Center garage at 12th and Broadway
Large mixed use tower at 14th and Wyandotte
Multi Tower development at 16th and Broadway
Office building at 3rd and Grand
Two ten story towers on the Riverfront
Hotel Bravo at 16th and Wyandotte
Tracks project in the crossroads

I'm guessing this is closer to a realistic list for next year.

[KCLover]

Even if all of those projects got started tomorrow, there still wouldn't be as many cranes as Nashville has up right now.

[grovester]

From what I've read, we don't want to be Nashville.

[KCLover]

From what I've read, we don't want to be Nashville.

No probably not. The city has in a way lost it's soul and become sterile. Starting to look like another Seattle or Austin, but the sheer growth and amount of cranes is impressive nonetheless. KC has historically grown a little more organically and under the radar and I prefer that. It's easy to get a little jealous of all of the new towers though.

[normalthings]

From what I've read, we don't want to be Nashville.

If we get Streecar to UMKC, fare free transit, and regional transit funding done then I think we could support a Nashville level on development.

[GRID]

Nashville has like 30 cranes up downtown. 30 different cranes than it had a few years ago. Downtown Nashville has at least tripled in size in less than ten years. Nashville is on a totally different level and are well on there way to be more of a peer to Denver than to KC.

I took this pic last week


Pics from 2 years ago



That said, Nashville is quickly losing its character and soul. But that's only because the city didn't have much to begin with. Take out the Broadway night life district and there was not much in Nashville 15-20 years ago. KC is a MUCH more substantial, diverse and historically large city with a lot more interesting architecture, amenities, etc. My point is that KC would probably handle such development much better than Nashville or even Denver because the city has better bones than hose cities had before they boomed. KC would absorb the same development as Nashville without losing much at all. I actually think it would compliment KC more than make it more "sterile".

The urban growth in Nashville is impressive and it won't be long before they will be forced to build things like 20-30 miles of light rail etc despite past attempt failures. KC should not look for reasons it should not grow like Nashville, Charlotte, Austin, Denver etc and look for reasons why it should.

Sad thing is that Memphis has the most stagnant skyline ever with several totally vacant downtown towers. Memphis would die to have the type of growth KC is having, let alone Nashville.

[normalthings]

^^^ I think that we can get to that level of growth in the next 15-20 years if we keep up our current momentum. We have to keep focusing on growing downtown and the urban core.

[GRID]

^^^ I think that we can get to that level of growth in the next 15-20 years if we keep up our current momentum. We have to keep focusing on growing downtown and the urban core.

The big difference in Nashville is the corporate commitment. Many of the towers going up in Nashville have been major companies and the jobs that come with them. I think Nashville class A space goes for like $35 a sq ft now. They even recently snagged a major amazon office. That's also helping them get all the big new hotel towers with top flags.

Personally, if you like urban planning, it's hard not to be impressed by what has happened to what was a sleepy city just 15 years ago. It all started about like KC. A new downtown sports arena...

KC absolutely could do the same thing if it really wanted to. But KC still has something Nashville doesn't. A state line with half the metro that is a very nasty competitor over in KS and the state it's in ignores it as Jeff City has zero interest in KC succeeding. But having better corporate citizens with more interest in urban development and a healthy center city would go a long way to overcome that.

[KCPowercat]

Even if all of those projects got started tomorrow, there still wouldn't be as many cranes as Nashville has up right now.

And? Nashville didn't have the existing building stock we had to renovate in new residential

[normalthings]

^^^ I think that we can get to that level of growth in the next 15-20 years if we keep up our current momentum. We have to keep focusing on growing downtown and the urban core.

The big difference in Nashville is the corporate commitment. Many of the towers going up in Nashville have been major companies and the jobs that come with them. I think Nashville class A space goes for like $35 a sq ft now. They even recently snagged a major amazon office. That's also helping them get all the big new hotel towers with top flags.

Personally, if you like urban planning, it's hard not to be impressed by what has happened to what was a sleepy city just 15 years ago. It all started about like KC. A new downtown sports arena...

KC absolutely could do the same thing if it really wanted to. But KC still has something Nashville doesn't. A state line with half the metro that is a very nasty competitor over in KS and the state it's in ignores it as Jeff City has zero interest in KC succeeding. But having better corporate citizens with more interest in urban development and a healthy center city would go a long way to overcome that.

It seems to me like we are starting to see that corporate shift. USDA, SwissRe, and Waddell & Reed being first big ones. Other sizable relocations are in the works for the near future

[Highlander]

^^^ I think that we can get to that level of growth in the next 15-20 years if we keep up our current momentum. We have to keep focusing on growing downtown and the urban core.

The big difference in Nashville is the corporate commitment. Many of the towers going up in Nashville have been major companies and the jobs that come with them. I think Nashville class A space goes for like $35 a sq ft now. They even recently snagged a major amazon office. That's also helping them get all the big new hotel towers with top flags.

Personally, if you like urban planning, it's hard not to be impressed by what has happened to what was a sleepy city just 15 years ago. It all started about like KC. A new downtown sports arena...

KC absolutely could do the same thing if it really wanted to. But KC still has something Nashville doesn't. A state line with half the metro that is a very nasty competitor over in KS and the state it's in ignores it as Jeff City has zero interest in KC succeeding. But having better corporate citizens with more interest in urban development and a healthy center city would go a long way to overcome that.

It seems to me like we are starting to see that corporate shift. USDA, SwissRe, and Waddell & Reed being first big ones. Other sizable relocations are in the works for the near future

It will be interesting to see who fills the proposed downtown towers. BCBS hopefully stays downtown and takes up some of the proposed space. Downtown is rapidly becoming the place to but there are many hurdles still.

[normalthings]

The big difference in Nashville is the corporate commitment. Many of the towers going up in Nashville have been major companies and the jobs that come with them. I think Nashville class A space goes for like $35 a sq ft now. They even recently snagged a major amazon office. That's also helping them get all the big new hotel towers with top flags.

Personally, if you like urban planning, it's hard not to be impressed by what has happened to what was a sleepy city just 15 years ago. It all started about like KC. A new downtown sports arena...

KC absolutely could do the same thing if it really wanted to. But KC still has something Nashville doesn't. A state line with half the metro that is a very nasty competitor over in KS and the state it's in ignores it as Jeff City has zero interest in KC succeeding. But having better corporate citizens with more interest in urban development and a healthy center city would go a long way to overcome that.

It seems to me like we are starting to see that corporate shift. USDA, SwissRe, and Waddell & Reed being first big ones. Other sizable relocations are in the works for the near future

It will be interesting to see who fills the proposed downtown towers. BCBS hopefully stays downtown and takes up some of the proposed space. Downtown is rapidly becoming the place to but there are many hurdles still.

BCBS will probably end up having to build new to stay in downtown. I don’t think there are any 250k sqft blocks of space available anymore.

Some of Strata’s incentives are tied to bringing in new jobs to the state which means Kansas firms or new job relocations. (Exciting!)

[Chris Stritzel]

Nashville has like 30 cranes up downtown. 30 different cranes than it had a few years ago. Downtown Nashville has at least tripled in size in less than ten years. Nashville is on a totally different level and are well on there way to be more of a peer to Denver than to KC.

I took this pic last week

Nashville's construction boom has brought its own problems with it. It doesn't seem that the City was built to support the large influx of cars and people. Sidewalks remain narrow, roads are jammed with cars, construction sites close off sidewalks and push everyone on a zig-zagged course, public transit there isn't the best, and they shot down a proposal a few years back for light rail.

Let's also not forget that the City was almost pushed into receivership for providing way too many incentives to developers.

That said, Nashville is quickly losing its character and soul. But that's only because the city didn't have much to begin with. Take out the Broadway night life district and there was not much in Nashville 15-20 years ago. KC is a MUCH more substantial, diverse and historically large city with a lot more interesting architecture, amenities, etc. My point is that KC would probably handle such development much better than Nashville or even Denver because the city has better bones than hose cities had before they boomed. KC would absorb the same development as Nashville without losing much at all. I actually think it would compliment KC more than make it more "sterile".

The urban growth in Nashville is impressive and it won't be long before they will be forced to build things like 20-30 miles of light rail etc despite past attempt failures. KC should not look for reasons it should not grow like Nashville, Charlotte, Austin, Denver etc and look for reasons why it should.

Sad thing is that Memphis has the most stagnant skyline ever with several totally vacant downtown towers. Memphis would die to have the type of growth KC is having, let alone Nashville.

I completely agree. Kansas City could support a massive building boom without having the growing pains that Nashville does. Nashville feels like a new town now. They're openly demolishing their old Southern-style homes and buildings for shiny new office, apartment, and hotel towers. The character they have is going away quickly. Kansas City has a lot of gaps to fill in before the debate starts about losing old homes and buildings for modern style buildings. Even at peak building boom, Kansas City would be pretty well set with character-filled neighborhoods and buildings. In the end, as you said, KC has better bones to handle huge growth. It's a benefit Seattle, Nashville, Austin, Denver, etc don't have.

Nashville needs Light Rail because it could reduce the burden on the roads in their Downtown area. The Streetcar is a great thing for KC in the way it will help take some congestion off of the roads if the cit started booming big time. Connecting it to the Riverfront and Plaza will be a huge boost and will benefit many who want to embrace a car optional lifestyle. Nashvillians don't have that luxury at this point unless they want to take a bus that will get stuck in the traffic that people who drive normally are stuck in or unless they can afford to live in the actual Downtown-Midtown-Gulch area, it's still pretty car dependant.

In the end, Kansas City has a lot going for it. The number of cranes that will be up in Downtown by the Summer/Fall of this year will be a good sight to see. Progress is visible already to someone like me who visits a few times throughout the year. Seeing cranes gives a sense of progress. It's a good thing visitors see when they come to town.

[langosta]

Nashville has like 30 cranes up downtown. 30 different cranes than it had a few years ago. Downtown Nashville has at least tripled in size in less than ten years. Nashville is on a totally different level and are well on there way to be more of a peer to Denver than to KC.

I took this pic last week

Nashville's construction boom has brought its own problems with it. It doesn't seem that the City was built to support the large influx of cars and people. Sidewalks remain narrow, roads are jammed with cars, construction sites close off sidewalks and push everyone on a zig-zagged course, public transit there isn't the best, and they shot down a proposal a few years back for light rail.

Let's also not forget that the City was almost pushed into receivership for providing way too many incentives to developers.

That said, Nashville is quickly losing its character and soul. But that's only because the city didn't have much to begin with. Take out the Broadway night life district and there was not much in Nashville 15-20 years ago. KC is a MUCH more substantial, diverse and historically large city with a lot more interesting architecture, amenities, etc. My point is that KC would probably handle such development much better than Nashville or even Denver because the city has better bones than hose cities had before they boomed. KC would absorb the same development as Nashville without losing much at all. I actually think it would compliment KC more than make it more "sterile".

The urban growth in Nashville is impressive and it won't be long before they will be forced to build things like 20-30 miles of light rail etc despite past attempt failures. KC should not look for reasons it should not grow like Nashville, Charlotte, Austin, Denver etc and look for reasons why it should.

Sad thing is that Memphis has the most stagnant skyline ever with several totally vacant downtown towers. Memphis would die to have the type of growth KC is having, let alone Nashville.

I completely agree. Kansas City could support a massive building boom without having the growing pains that Nashville does. Nashville feels like a new town now. They're openly demolishing their old Southern-style homes and buildings for shiny new office, apartment, and hotel towers. The character they have is going away quickly. Kansas City has a lot of gaps to fill in before the debate starts about losing old homes and buildings for modern style buildings. Even at peak building boom, Kansas City would be pretty well set with character-filled neighborhoods and buildings. In the end, as you said, KC has better bones to handle huge growth. It's a benefit Seattle, Nashville, Austin, Denver, etc don't have.

Nashville needs Light Rail because it could reduce the burden on the roads in their Downtown area. The Streetcar is a great thing for KC in the way it will help take some congestion off of the roads if the cit started booming big time. Connecting it to the Riverfront and Plaza will be a huge boost and will benefit many who want to embrace a car optional lifestyle. Nashvillians don't have that luxury at this point unless they want to take a bus that will get stuck in the traffic that people who drive normally are stuck in or unless they can afford to live in the actual Downtown-Midtown-Gulch area, it's still pretty car dependant.

In the end, Kansas City has a lot going for it. The number of cranes that will be up in Downtown by the Summer/Fall of this year will be a good sight to see. Progress is visible already to someone like me who visits a few times throughout the year. Seeing cranes gives a sense of progress. It's a good thing visitors see when they come to town.

KC landing Starbucks would have given us a huge push forward in the right direction.

[earthling]

For KC to see Nashville's downtown boom it probably would need to attract outside businesses.

Nashville has...
- Many more nonstop flights/destinations, mini hub (KC can fix this, on its way)
- Some natural beauty, and better across state (KC can't fix this)
- Milder winters (KC can't fix this)
- A major university (KC must fix this, needs to be high priority)
- Lower murder rate though not great (KC must fix this, needs to be top priority - and seems to just now have it)
- State capitol (KC can't fix this)
- A well known music scene that is now beyond country (KC might be able to build something with national reputation)
- No state line fights (KC can fix this, but difficult when GDP nearly balanced both sides)
- A metro that fully embraces downtown (KC can fix this, getting better)

Charlotte, Denver, Austin also have most of these. Not a fan of big boom cities and KC doesn't need to become one. But losing top 30 market status could cause some issues. If eventually hitting below 35 or worse, could lose major league sports at some point and more difficulty to gain others. The broader 200 mile region isn't growing as much as other hot markets too.

Indy/Columbus could also potentially pass up KC. They have state capitols, stronger universities, no state line battles and attract rust belt exit.