Downtown Mission/ The Gateway

[trailerkid]

You seriously think that's a good looking parking ramp? First off, it's not needed cause Mission Center only has 8 stores, and it looks out of place next to Wild Oats and other street level businesses on Johnson Drive, it cuts off pedestrian flow from Johnston Drive to the center. There's nothing wrong with parking ramps, but they need to be integrated into the neighborhood they're in and not look like the Oak Park ramps.

[KC0KEK]

I don't think that its size makes it looks out of place. It's still lower than the mall and the eight-story-or-so Mission Bank building less than a block away. It's also ground level at one end because the terrain slopes up.

I agree that there's more parking than the current tenant load requires. But CWB probably couldn't cut back to just a surface lot if Mission's codes requre a certain number of parking spaces for each square foot of retial. (Maybe somebody on this board knows what the codes require.) Plus, if Mission Center Mall is lucky enough to attract a few major stores that are big draws, getting them to committ could be tough without a two-story garage.

[Brooksider]

The Roe and Johnson Drive intersection is open.

[KC0KEK]

The Roe and Johnson Drive intersection is open.

Thank God. I live a couple of blocks away, and it's great to be able to zip through again. It will be even better when the entire intersection is open later this month or early November.

I thought that the redesign was supposed to free up a couple of acres for development, but it doesn't look that way. Did anybody else hear that?

[trailerkid]

Mission may be adopting design guidelines for Johnson Drive businesses in order to increase sales and compete with Westport and the Plaza. I think it is a good idea to improve landscape and hopefully transform Mission's downtown into another asset of greater Kansas City and a compliment to neighborhoods like 39th Street, the Plaza, Westport, and Waldo. I am not sure what exactly the design guidelines are, but here are the council people if anyone wants to voice support or questions...

Councilmembers Ward I
Sue Grosdidier, 677-9986 sue@publicnetworking.org
Phillip A. Perry, 722-5286 CRSPPerry@aol.com

Councilmembers Ward II
John Weber, 432-1128
Steven Schowengerdt, 362-3736

Councilmembers Ward III
Connie Footlick,677-4407 connie_footlick@missionks.org
Debbie Kring, 722-6901 kring.debbie@epa.gov

Councilmembers Ward IV
Ron Appletoft, 677-1706 reapple@juno.com
Suzanne Gibbs, 671-8564 sbgibbs@planetkc.com

Top Stories
Mission has designs on increased retail sales
By:Nathan Dayani, Sun Staff Writer December 25, 2003
The Mission City Council will consider in January whether it should adopt building design guidelines for the Johnson Drive shopping district that could generate $50 million more in retail sales by 2007.

Mike Scanlon, city administrator, said the guidelines could increase patronage in the Johnson Drive corridor by establishing a set of standards to improve the shopping district's appearance. Scanlon said the changes could help downtown businesses better compete with the nearby Country Club Plaza and Westport shopping districts in Kansas City, Mo.

"Those are areas that people are driving to and shopping at," he said. "And we're trying to get the people of Johnson County to shop in Mission where there's an ambiance right around the corner."

The design guidelines were developed by local consulting firms Theis Doolittle and Brent Bowman and Associates. In a prelude to their report, the firms cited a recent study stating that Mission's shopping district captures about 33 percent of its potential retail sales. With a concerted effort to promote business that includes aesthetic improvements, the shopping district could increase that share to 39 percent by 2007 and thus capture $50 million more in annual sales, according to the study. Such revenues would bring $500,000 more to Mission, based on the city's 1 percent retail sales tax.

Martin Rivarola, public works director, said the guidelines would be an important step for the city to increase retail sales along the corridor.

"It's certainly possible," Rivarola said of reaching the $50 million goal. "But the design guidelines by themselves are not going to do it."

Scanlon said once the guidelines were implemented, it would take time for them to have a significant impact.

"The real test for whether or not this works won't be for another five or 10 years," Scanlon said. "This is just the first step."

If approved by the City Council, the guidelines would affect new businesses and major renovation projects enacted by already established businesses in Mission. The guidelines outline policies concerning building facades, size and proportion to adjacent and nearby buildings, materials, roofs, display windows, entrances, awnings and canopies, signs, lighting, and parking structures.

"The intent would be to encourage high-quality building in the city," Rivarola said. "But there is some flexibility within the guidelines."

If the program is approved, Rivarola said, consultants from Theis Doolittle would help redesign six businesses along the corridor as part of a pilot project to demonstrate how the guidelines could improve the corridor's look. This complimentary consultation could encourage other businesses to update their architectural designs, Rivarola said.

Mission's planning commission has unanimously approved of the design guidelines. Richard Peak, chair of the planning commission, said he hoped the guidelines would foster the addition of offices and apartments to the top of one-story buildings. Both the guidelines and recent zoning changes would allow for such additions, Peak said.

"I'd like to see people living downtown so Mission doesn't look deserted at night," he said. "And it would be safer because people are keeping an eye on things, and they're another resource for business."

Additionally, the guidelines forbid new curb cuts along Johnson Drive, which effectively stops any new automobile-dependent businesses from opening along the corridor, such as car washes, drive-through restaurants and banks, Rivarola said. Peak also supported this proposal, adding that it would encourage more small specialty shops to move into the area.

However, the flood plain along Rock Creek just south of Johnson Drive remains a major obstacle, Rivarola said. He said businesses located in the flood plain couldn't collect insurance on major upgrades if flooding were to occur. Consequently, the public works department now will turn its attention to addressing the flooding issue, Rivarola said.

"Now we're down to the infrastructure improvements that we need to be tackling," he said.

Mission also has been tackling the issue of tax increment financing (TIF) in recent months and could consider TIF to support upgrades along the corridor within the next year, Scanlon said. He said Mission would need about six to nine months to establish TIF zones and policies before it could support TIF projects.

Tax increment financing allows the property tax that would otherwise be due on improvements made as part of a development project to be used temporarily to fund qualifying portions of the project.

"TIFs need to be both for new business owners and current owners," Scanlon said. "The benefit for TIF should be felt by people who already own businesses here."

©The Johnson County Sun 2003

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?news ... 5725&rfi=6

[KC0KEK]

It was good to see Mission MedVet invest in the area by taking over the old Luby's. Considering what I spent at my vet last week just taking a couple of cats in for an annual check-up, Mission MedVet should have no problem contributing to Mission's tax base.

[Karin]

Now that the Wal-Mart proposal has been defeated, are there currently any new plans for the Mission Center site or will the mall remain in its current format?



Another anchor store like J.C. Penney in addition to Dillards would be an asset to the center.

[dangerboy]

Not so fast. Look for Wal-Mart to challenge the big box restrictions. This might end up in court before it's all over. Wal-Mart doesn't usually give up after the first defeat.

[Karin]

Even though stringent zoning restrictions have been passed in the Johnson Drive corridor for big box stores??

Recently, Wal-Mart admitted that any new big box zoning laws would most likely kill the supercenter plan for Mission Center. A rep for Wal-Mart claimed that it would no longer be economically feasible to build there.

Zoning laws are an effective way at preventing certain types of development from locating in a community. The laws are difficult to challenge in court. Other towns have applied this method for keeping Wal-Mart from opening supercenters in their areas.

[KC0KEK]

Mission and Roeland Park were encouraging Wal-Mart to consider a site at the south east corner of the I-35/18th Street Expressway intersection, where a hotel was supposed to be built. That would give them a high visibility location, like their store a few exits down at 75th Street.

As for the future of Mission Mall, I don't know. Considering the immediate area's demographics, I have difficulty believing that retailers don't consider it a desirable location. So while I'm puzzled by the vacancies, I also can't think of a solution.

[Karin]

From what I've read about trends in the shopping center industry recently, smaller shopping malls with two anchors or less are not as popular with retail chain stores as they once were. Many retailers prefer to locate in malls with many department store anchors,commonly referred to as megamalls (example--Oak Park).


Also, lifestyle or open-air centers are considered by developers to be the hot new trend. The smaller enclosed regional malls are slowly being phased out in favor of these more popular designs.

Consequently, many malls the size of Mission Center have numerous vacancies.

[dangerboy]

The vibrancy of the mom and pop stores may be the biggest problem for Mission Center. I patronize Johnson Drive quite often, but have only been in the mall 2 or 3 times in the last five years. That mall is just too small compete with the full-sized malls like Oak Park or Indep. Center, and it's too isolated to compete with Johnson Drive.

Johnson Drive is successfull, the city should build on that. Either open the mall up or replace it with street-level retail that connects with the neighborhood. Also, some townhouses or mid-rise condos would probably be very popular in that location.

[KC0KEK]

The vibrancy of the mom and pop stores may be the biggest problem for Mission Center. I patronize Johnson Drive quite often, but have only been in the mall 2 or 3 times in the last five years. That mall is just too small compete with the full-sized malls like Oak Park or Indep. Center, and it's too isolated to compete with Johnson Drive.

I'm just the opposite. I'm in Mission Mall at least two or three times a month, usually for Coyote Grill, Dillards and Brentanos (sp.?), plus the quarterly JoCo library book sales. I haven't been to Oak Park in at least two years.

[Karin]

Perhaps the city of Mission should redevelop the mall into a hybrid center.

A hybrid center is viewed by the retail industry today as a popular solution to struggling malls across the country. The concept consists of both an enclosed mall and an adjacent lifestyle or outdoor center, giving customers the option of mall or convenience shopping.

With a plan like this, the mall would be revitalized and not have to be torn down for redevelopment.

[KC0KEK]

Isn't that more or less what the site was before 1989? How ironic.

[dangerboy]

Sounds exactly like what was done to Ward Parkway Center.

[cdschofield]

If Ikea had proposed a 200,000 sq. ft. blue and yellow big box for the Mission Center site would everyone be so happy for the rezoning? Just a gut check. I'm no Wal Mart booster but I just think the city council should have taken a more cooperative approach with Copaken. If the city council wants to redevelop the Mission Center site they are going to have to deal with developers and pissing on one of the biggest developers in KC is not the way to accomplish that goal.

[KC0KEK]

If Ikea had proposed a 200,000 sq. ft. blue and yellow big box for the Mission Center site would everyone be so happy for the rezoning? Just a gut check.

Yes, I would be. I don't have a problem with Wal-Mart per se, or any big-box retailer, for that matter. I just don't want one there.

I'm no Wal Mart booster but I just think the city council should have taken a more cooperative approach with Copaken. If the city council wants to redevelop the Mission Center site they are going to have to deal with developers and pissing on one of the biggest developers in KC is not the way to accomplish that goal.

Realistically what could the council have done differently? Judging just by the number of petition signatures, their constituents clearly didn't want the site to become a big box. That's hardly pissing. If they'd just bent over and taken it, they would have been pissing on their constituents and almost certainly been voted out of office.

Instead, they listened to the community and developed guidelines that reflected what the community said it wanted and didn't want. How is it the council's fault that Wal-Mart couldn't make a business case for building a store within those guidelines? Look elsewhere on this board, and you'll find several articles that show Wal-Mart's flexibility in other communities. They chose to be inflexible here.

Look at it from this angle: If Copaken and others want to redevelop the Mission Center site, they're going to have to deal with the council and its constituents, and a take-it-or-leave-it proposal is not the way to accomplish that goal.

[dangerboy]

Multi-story Wal-Marts do exist. There is one at a mall in LA's San Fernando Valley. An old Macy's at a mall in the San Fracisco Bay Area is being converted to a Wal-Mart.

[tat2kc]

I expect Mission Mall to close within 5 years. Business continues to drop, and I don't see that changing.