Fantasy Retrofits: Barney Allis Plaza

[shinatoo]

Hyperloop station.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Convention services never sells BAP as an option for conventions to use....if it does they do a horrible job of selling it.

Not sure about now but it was back in the day. The problems for convention use are many, one being trying to restrict access. Another being weather. The city has for decades tried to design that space for better utilization. Hopefully at some point in the future someone will come up with the magical formula for a more successful utilization.

[DaveKCMO]

A parking consultant has apparently been hired.

[FangKC]

City Seeks Proposals for Big Overhaul of Barney Allis Plaza and Garage

The city is seeking proposals for a major overhaul of Barney Allis Plaza and its garage, following up on a study that described the square in the heart of downtown as a “forlorn stretch of grass and asphalt.”

A request for proposals has been released by the City Manager’s Office with responses due by April 25. According to the city’s schedule, construction would then begin this fall with completion by winter 2022.

While the Plaza may look forlorn on the surface, its 980-space underground garage is in worse condition and in need of major repairs. The plaza and garage were built in 1955 to serve Municipal Auditorium and it was upgraded in 1985.
...

https://cityscenekc.com/city-seeks-prop ... nd-garage/

[TheLastGentleman]

I know it won't happen, but I'd love to see some buildings developed on some of this site. Maybe a big tower on the north that looks over the plaza. It could be tall so it breaks up the Marriott slab.

I'm all for big plazas in the right context, but I don't think BAP needs the entire city block to itself.

[KCtoBrooklyn]

There was an item on the City Council Agenda yesterday for funding design of the BAP reconstruction. It was referred to the Finance and Governance Committee:

Estimating revenue and appropriating $1,350,000.00 in Fund 3439, the 2020A Taxable Special Obligation Bond Fund; designating requisitioning authority; authorizing an approximately $594,000.00 professional services contract with CarrBaierCrandall (CBC) related to the programming, design and reconstruction of the Auditorium Plaza Garage and Barney Allis Plaza Event Space; authorizing the Director of General Services to execute amendments to the contract with CBC up to a total contract amount not to exceed $1,300,000.00; authorizing the Director of Finance to close project accounts; declaring the intent of the City to reimburse itself from the bond proceeds for certain expenditures; and recognizing this ordinance as having an accelerated effective date.

In addition, it looks like the city will spend $7M on another parking facility to be used while BAP is under construction. Info on that can be found here:

http://cityclerk.kcmo.org/LiveWeb/Docum ... bTdw%3d%3d

[normalthings]

^^^ it looks like this contract is for the Owner representative.

[KCLover]

I know it won't happen, but I'd love to see some buildings developed on some of this site. Maybe a big tower on the north that looks over the plaza. It could be tall so it breaks up the Marriott slab.

I'm all for big plazas in the right context, but I don't think BAP needs the entire city block to itself.

I wouldn't mind the whole city block if they did something like Citygarden in St Louis. Although I think the Citygarden idea would be better for the 670 cap.

[TheLastGentleman]

Any updates on this? Last update from the city was in April

[normalthings]

Any updates on this? Last update from the city was in April

It was up before the council last month. IIRC, the City (Sheilds) tried to boot the current consultant recently. It sounds like they have determined that an additional off-site parking garage will need to be constructed.

[TheLastGentleman]

It sounds like they have determined that an additional off-site parking garage will need to be constructed.

Cause we sure don't have enough of those......

[flyingember]

It sounds like they have determined that an additional off-site parking garage will need to be constructed.

Cause we sure don't have enough of those......

It might be true in this case. Remember that there's one surface lot next door making so much money off parking they can afford to not build on half a block inside the loop.

The convention center has space for 100,000 people. There's no way that we could fill every parking space, fill every city bus, have hundreds of people walk from the streetcar, run coach busses all day and even then fill that much space.

Even having a garage with space for large busses would help the convention business.

[kboish]

I think part of the reason they want to not rebuild all 1,000 spaces right there is that it keeps the ability to bury the spaces under a functioning plaza within a reasonable price point. Plus, i thought i remember hearing that the additional off-site parking isn't necessarily another, newly constructed garage, but rather some kind of agreement to use others parking. I could be wrong about that part because i know that no final decisions have been made. In fact, I remember seeing at a recent business session that Shields had introduced an ordinance to rescind the contract with the consultant who was hired to guide the re-construction process. They never explicitly stated why they were going to rescind the contract and I don't think they ended up even voting on it. Seems like lots of behind closed doors discussions happening. Don't know what about.

[DaveKCMO]

The city conveneved a stakeholder group this week to start the discussion about the plaza (not the garage itself). It's looking like a private non-profit will be the outcome, based on the successful Bryant Park model in NYC. Here's the presentation that compares various governance models: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx1_a3 ... sp=sharing

[TheLastGentleman]

Glad to hear there’s still movement on this project

[KCDowntown]

It looks like the rumor of the off-site garage might have legs... The city is buying the surface lots at 1200-1210 Broadway, which is located between Bartle and the Kansas City Southern HQ.

This item was on today's city council meeting...

Estimating revenue and appropriating $5,450,000.00 in Fund No. 3439, the 2020A Taxable Special Obligation Bond Fund; designating requisitioning authority to the Director of General Services and the Director of Finance; authorizing the purchase of property at 1200 and 1210 Broadway, Kansas City, Missouri; authorizing the Director of Finance to close project accounts; declaring the intent of the City to reimburse itself from the bond proceeds for certain expenditures; and recognizing this ordinance as having an accelerated effective date.

On the fact sheet for this item was this snippet...

In March 2019, the City concluded a due diligence study of the APG (Auditorium Parking Garage) site. Among the study’s conclusions was the determination that locating some or all of the parking in an above-ground structure on a nearby property would be significantly less costly than rebuilding the equivalent parking at APG.
In April 2019, the City initiated negotiations to acquire 1200 and 1210 Broadway. This property is currently a surface parking lot and generally would be suitable for an above-ground parking structure near the City’s convention facilities. An appraisal conducted on the City’s behalf determined the value of the property at $5,060,000.

KCDowntown

[TheLastGentleman]

It looks like the rumor of the off-site garage might have legs... The city is buying the surface lots at 1200-1210 Broadway, which is located between Bartle and the Kansas City Southern HQ.

That would be the perfect site for a nice office building. If I'm remembering right there was originally going to be a building similar to the KCS HQ built there that just never happened.

It would be really bad if it ends up just being another big parking garage and Barney Allis Plaza gets left to languish.

[KCPowercat]

Major disappointment if that lot becomes nothing more than a garage.

[missingkc]

I wonder if they have reason to think the owners would finally sell. Didn't the city explore purchasing this property before, like in the '80s or '90s, and the owners weren't interested? Or maybe it was a prospective convention hotel developer that was interested in it and was rebuffed.

[flyingember]

I wonder if they have reason to think the owners would finally sell. Didn't the city explore purchasing this property before, like in the '80s or '90s, and the owners weren't interested? Or maybe it was a prospective convention hotel developer that was interested in it and was rebuffed.

The giant surface lot on Broadway? I dug into this a few years ago but at one point it ended up in a family lawsuit over ownership. There's posts somewhere on this site with info.