Historic Plaza Apts Being Demo'd?

[chrizow]

Per Historic KC chatter, there have been demo permits pulled for 4728, 4730 & 4734 Summit.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/4734+ ... 4b!6m1!1e1

[earthling]

WTF, for what?

[mean]

Something significantly less attractive, no doubt.

[chrizow]

owner is price brothers, so i am guessing some kind of residential project? no idea though.

[smh]

Wow, what a shame. Beautiful buildings.

[kcjak]

Nice character on the outside, but I don't think they've spent a dime on the interior in decades. Lower-end rentals are becoming fewer and fewer.

[moderne]

It is very valuable prime property. Easily walkable to heart of Plaza without having to go up or down any hill.

[earthling]

Nice character on the outside, but I don't think they've spent a dime on the interior in decades. Lower-end rentals are becoming fewer and fewer.

They can be upgraded just as Armour Blvd buildings were - even higher end. You cant build these again, ever.

[mean]

They can be upgraded just as Armour Blvd buildings were - even higher end. You cant build these again, ever.

Well, I suppose someone could. I mean, brick and stone are still things that exist in the world. It's just that now they're usually used for a facade on top of Tyvek and plywood or whatever.

[shinatoo]

Eh, not a huge loss. This is exactly the product of the same argument we are having about surface parking downtown. Nothing gets built until property value warrants it. Same goes for the value of low rise building getting replaced when the land value is high enough. It's a symptom of the success of the plaza.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

I remember looking at an apartment rental in one of those a few years ago. It was pretty dumpy then. My guess is they want to build something denser but then again, who knows.

[flyingember]

they could keep the historic fronts, build new behind them with a single brick structure behind. then put glass and a nice metal for floors above and take it to five floors. go with the clearly not historic look but maintain the front as a cool aspect to the building.

even if not taller and denser, modern and higher lease makes sense.

but yeah, park adjacent and a block from the plaza at one jobs center and with easy access to multiple others. it's prime land. the taxes have to be a fortune.

[slimwhitman]

The Cancer Survivor's Park will seem less lovely with these gone.

[pash]

.

[beautyfromashes]

How long til the Cancer's Survivor Park gets turned into another Law firm highrise?

[Midtownkid]

This is awful. Just keep chipping away at the Plaza's charm.

[JBmidtown]

"chipping away at the Plaza's charm" lol

[flyingember]

This is awful. Just keep chipping away at the Plaza's charm.

on the south there's mostly modern apartment highrises, a nondescript hotel and a row of historic apartments

on the north is a series of modern high rises and apartment buildings

on the west you have 1930s on one corner but to the north it's way more modern. On the NE corner is a 1960s structure

on the east is way more modern than the Plaza. It's a rather suburban street, feeling much like 95th and Antioch with a church, a strip mall and a restaurant in a parking lot with apartments behind it.

if you look at the core of the plaza a lot of the store fronts are modern as well. Many of them are brick or stucco with glass and metal at the actual store. there's huge variety here

It's basically a shopping district with a US route through it, a lot of stop lights and a major thru street on the south.

parking is in large garages scattered throughout. the garages have giant blank faces with nothing at them in many cases like downtown. (Broadway north of 47th, the Jefferson St entrance for the garage behind the apple store, the one at the former Halls building, the one on 47th behind the Unity church, the entrance behind the Cheesecake factory, the side entrance for the one next to Barnes and Noble)

the second story has offices at them

the short buildings have decorations and public art in front of them. lots of fountains.

Take away the tall buildings and age and I just described Zona Rosa or Prairie Fire. The Plaza would fit into downtown well in a bowl pattern with the garages creating large blank faces on whole blocks.

So the charm to the Plaza is the artistic design and nothing more. It has nothing to do with the building height. It's the actual inclusion of tall modern buildings that make the style stand out so well.

[FangKC]

Historic Kansas City's Facebook page has several photos of the buildings.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 7653606987

If the apartments are "dumpy," they can be remodeled. No need to tear the buildings down. These are charming little apartment buildings that were designed by Nelle E. Peters, one of the few women architects in the country at the time.

Just because a building is run-down doesn't mean it needs to be torn down. Many older apartment buildings have been remodeled and updated.

I also doubt another high-rise apartment building would get approved in the "flats" of the Plaza District. I recall some sort of zoning plan that discourages newer, taller buildings in that part of the Plaza, and only allowing them on the edges of the "bowl."

[Midtownkid]

Yes, the Plaza has been changed quite a bit since it was first built. Some development has been good, most has not. Just because it has been modernized and made more bland does not mean we should just not care any more!

I still think it is charming. Not only for the shop buildings (although I do hate the modern storefronts), but for the over all layout as well. The small gardens and courtyards are wonderful (though some were originally gas stations and what not.)