OFFICIAL - Lightwell (formerly City Center Square)

[KCPowercat]

Going to be a nice little hub of quick serve places.

[smh]

Just talked to Wrap it Up. They wanted to get into AMC building but didn't work out. They are going to 9th/Baltimore instead, apparently the Milwaukee Deli/Australian eats building. Leaving current spot end of Sept.

Is there a spot in that building? I think the Deli and Banksia take up the whole ground floor.

[wahoowa]

i believe there's a storefront west of banksia, i thought it was an office or some other non-food operation though.

[earthling]

I walked by and all spaces leased. There are two spots open across street so must be it. When I mentioned by MKE Deli he shook head yes.

[WoodDraw]

I'm surprised Milwaukee deli hasn't tried to expand their place

[earthling]

Nah quaint and smallish works for a place like that, part of the appeal. And they have the half upstairs. Would hate to see it as a mega restaurant.

[WoodDraw]

Not advocating for it, just surprised. Their lunch business seems constantly full.

[earthling]

Larger space needs more servers and kitchen may be at capacity. The upside is their overspill probably helps the other restaurants on the stretch.

On a tangent, a block down at 9th/Main it is disconcerting to see that McCown Gordan didn't add a retail element to the corner. A nice restaurant patio could go in that corner. And right at the streetcar stop. Frustrating when developers are clueless about adding to the street vibe.

[smh]

Larger space needs more servers and kitchen may be at capacity. The upside is their overspill probably helps the other restaurants on the stretch.

On a tangent, a block down at 9th/Main it is disconcerting to see that McCown Gordan didn't add a retail element to the corner. A nice restaurant patio could go in that corner. And right at the streetcar stop. Frustrating when developers are clueless about adding to the street vibe.

They also didn't add any sidewalk space along Main so we're left with the same 4ft minimum as beforehand. Totally missed opportunity to better the walking conditions.

[langosta]

https://lightwellkc.com

[smh]

Looks good. If they attempt to narrow that sidewalk for their patio I'm going to lose my mind.

[wahoowa]

fun thread on wework's ipo here: https://twitter.com/seldo/status/1161708375815536640

excerpts:

I think my favorite WeWork thing is that it rents buildings owned by the CEO, who bought the buildings by borrowing against WeWork's stock. Nobody seems to be questioning why this is okay, or why WeWork didn't buy the buildings itself and not double-pay its own CEO.

And if the CEO dies the person who picks his replacement is a committee of 3 people made up of the CEO's wife and two people she gets to pick. And she can pick herself.

WeWork's official name is just "We", a trademark that it licenses from its own founder for $5.9M a year. Yes, the same founder who decided what to name the company charges $6M/year to let them use it.

[earthling]

WeWork has the rapid growth and massive losses that reminds me of the late 90's dotcom boom that wasn't sustainable. They'll either succeed wildly or bust spectacularly. Hopefully PlexPod can take on their KC spaces if they go bust as co-working space and small biz seems to be downtown's best opportunity for office space growth.

[kboish]

fun thread on wework's ipo here: https://twitter.com/seldo/status/1161708375815536640

excerpts:

I think my favorite WeWork thing is that it rents buildings owned by the CEO, who bought the buildings by borrowing against WeWork's stock. Nobody seems to be questioning why this is okay, or why WeWork didn't buy the buildings itself and not double-pay its own CEO.

And if the CEO dies the person who picks his replacement is a committee of 3 people made up of the CEO's wife and two people she gets to pick. And she can pick herself.

WeWork's official name is just "We", a trademark that it licenses from its own founder for $5.9M a year. Yes, the same founder who decided what to name the company charges $6M/year to let them use it.

Yep. This situation has been wild to watch come to light. It will fall apart at some point. But until then we will continue to celebrate them as successful entrepreneurs.

[DaveKCMO]

Video! https://youtu.be/kg9__TSpA8o

[DaveKCMO]

Paywall story in the Biz Journal says the top floor will be renovated for the first time in 30 years because they're replacing the roof.

[smh]

Word on the street is that Wrap it Up is officially moving to the Stilwell Building on 9th Street that used to be a plant shop years ago. No word on evening hours, though it seems unlikely.

[wahoowa]

about a week ago he told me they would probably have longer hours at least to some extent.

[smh]

about a week ago he told me they would probably have longer hours at least to some extent.

Oh well that is good news. Could maybe get some walk-in evening traffic.

[earthling]

On WeWork construction, hopefully that completes given they have backed off of IPO. One major risk they have that WallStreet doesn't like is that they still have to pay rent in most cases even if not leased out. Not sure if that is case with their Lightwell lease but is likely. Flex space seems to be doing pretty well in KC based on PlexPod spaces that I'm aware of so hopefully WeWork will not only complete this but expand more downtown.

This doesn't include the 100K sqft WeWork in progress for Lightwell building and other expansions like 100K sqft in progress near airport (Ambassador building)...