OFFICIAL - Waddell & Reed - 14th & Baltimore

[KCPowercat]

The staff planner is Jamie.Hickey@kcmo.org (as per development map), I assume this is the best address to send concerns?

[kas1]

Crime patterns can change a lot during the lifespan of a building. And even if something is unlikely, I'd still prefer to not have to worry about it each time I'm outside after dark. Closed spaces make people feel comfortable. Open spaces make people feel uncomfortable. There is absolutely zero benefit to building a garden between a sidewalk and an office building. It's the product of a suburban mindset where you want to make your building look pretty for all the people approaching it after parking their cars.

And to answer your other question, in the past I have had people warn me not to walk alongside certain parks after dark because of muggings, even in nice neighborhoods. This is definitely the type of thing that can become a problem in this location given the numerous blank walls and the easy escape routes, and there is no reason to rely on technology to try to fight crime in place of making it harder to commit crimes in the first place. And for the record, in the past I have recommended against creating a big linear park when capping the interstate. Adding buildings in the middle will encourage people to pass through from one side to the other, and safety after dark is one benefit of that.

If you just build a normal street wall and put in a restaurant, then the street is fine to walk on. If you put crap like this on both sides of the street, then I'll pick a different route after dark. If I have a hard time finding routes that I like, then sooner or later I move away. It's that simple. And I'm not even a member of a vulnerable population. If you want retirees from Leawood to move downtown and spend all their money eating out all the time then you'd better be sure they can walk around after dark without having to wonder what might be lurking just out of sight.

[FangKC]

There are 20-foot wide retail spaces in big cities. It seems a waste to set the building back that far from the sidewalk. Instead of a blank wall, why not put in narrow retail spaces up against it, and have upper floor overhang? There are trailer diners that do short-order cooking with counters in what is the equivalent to a 16- to-20-foot wide house trailer. A small beauty/barber shop would probably easily fit in that width as well. Downtowns need to provide small retail spaces like this so that service businesses can keep expenses low. Small retail spaces are often easier to rent than larger spaces.

[normalthings]

There are 20-foot wide retail spaces in big cities. It seems a waste to set the building back that far from the sidewalk. Instead of a blank wall, why not put in narrow retail spaces up against it, and have upper floor overhang? There are trailer diners that do short-order cooking with counters in what is the equivalent to a 16- to-20-foot wide house trailer. A small beauty/barber shop would probably easily fit in that width as well. Downtowns need to provide small retail spaces like this so that service businesses can keep expenses low. Small retail spaces are often easier to rent than larger spaces.

IIRC, the building abuts the property line. The 20 feet of park space would be in the public ROW.

[FangKC]

Ok, so they are removing the angled parking spaces, and pushing the sidewalk out further to the street.

[DaveKCMO]

Ok, so they are removing the angled parking spaces, and pushing the sidewalk out further to the street.

Why remove valuable public parking? I guess if you don't have any retail it doesn't matter?

[normalthings]

Ok, so they are removing the angled parking spaces, and pushing the sidewalk out further to the street.

Yes.

[normalthings]

Ok, so they are removing the angled parking spaces, and pushing the sidewalk out further to the street.

Why remove valuable public parking? I guess if you don't have any retail it doesn't matter?

There are doing similar with Reverb's pocket park

[DaveKCMO]

Ok, so they are removing the angled parking spaces, and pushing the sidewalk out further to the street.

Why remove valuable public parking? I guess if you don't have any retail it doesn't matter?

There are doing similar with Reverb's pocket park

Reverb is removing maybe two spaces. This seems like more. That parking is also paid.

[earthling]

Back to the developers response to adding landscaping...

Adding shrubbery to an already isolated island building literally turns this into a 'walled garden'. The city must not accept that.

[shinatoo]

A new building is like a marriage. The flashy architecture might be what attracts you to it, but trends fade over time. The street is where the relationship is built. If there is nothing at the street level then the relationship is vapid and hollow. Depressing and doomed.

[smh]

The staff planner is Jamie.Hickey@kcmo.org (as per development map), I assume this is the best address to send concerns?

Yes, it is. After the staff report comes out we'll probably have a general call for people to write their councilperson and/or CPC.

[normalthings]

Twitter saying the building is coming down now. Can anyone confirm in person?

[Bbc333]

Twitter saying the building is coming down now. Can anyone confirm in person?

Yes- there is a massive hole going up several floors on the southwest side of the building.

[gfenn11]

Yes.

[normalthings]

Yes.

Reddit is reporting that police and fire surrounded the site after part of the building collapsed.

[LCDSI]

Is it just me or is this project moving extremely fast?

[horizons82]

I think that's the goal, given the questionable financials and terrible design.

[Chris Stritzel]

Demo that thing faster. Now it's a hazard if part of it collapsed.

[missingkc]

Well of course it collapsed. They took out 5 adjacent columns on a corner.