OFFICIAL - Commerce Tower

[WoodDraw]

I've heard not the best things about the management here. Just normal apartment griping, or truly bad?

[rxlexi]

Interesting notes about the potential for additional value add through the development of the unfinished commercial space, potentially as small apts. When this was proposed, I remember it being pitched romantically as a "vertical neighborhood" with several different uses under the roof. Did they ever finish the pool and courts atop CVS/garage either - website still shows renderings but advertises as an amenity? There is a slight whiff of unfulfilled potential here, though to be fair I haven't toured the property.

Hoping it sells quickly and for top dollar in what is a crazy multifamily market right now.

[normalthings]

I've heard not the best things about the management here. Just normal apartment griping, or truly bad?

I have heard stories of poor management and poor build quality.

[TheLastGentleman]

Didn't the star even put out an article about it?

[smh]

Interesting notes about the potential for additional value add through the development of the unfinished commercial space, potentially as small apts. When this was proposed, I remember it being pitched romantically as a "vertical neighborhood" with several different uses under the roof. Did they ever finish the pool and courts atop CVS/garage either - website still shows renderings but advertises as an amenity? There is a slight whiff of unfulfilled potential here, though to be fair I haven't toured the property.

Hoping it sells quickly and for top dollar in what is a crazy multifamily market right now.

The garage amenities are complete--though my vantage point suggests they are not quite as "resort-style" as perhaps first advertised. They still look nice.

[Brodees]

Here's a bird's-eye view of the Commerce garage from Sky on Main (where our mgmt is giving them a run for their money for the Downright Shittiest Management Company of the Year award).

[TheLastGentleman]

This isn't news, but I just put together the fact that there used to be a sunken garden area with a fountain next to Commerce Tower that's now filled in as a playground. Wonder what happened to the fountain, considering it was classified as a historic element in the tower's National Register application.

[missingkc]

Wow. Was that a visual downgrade.

[DaveKCMO]

Meh. It's below grade and most people never knew it was there unless you ate at that terrible deli.

[TheLastGentleman]

My biggest issue is that it demonstrates that projects can get historic tax credits even if they remove elements the parks service has labeled historic. Seems a bit off

[KCPowercat]

Meh. It's below grade and most people never knew it was there unless you ate at that terrible deli.

Hey now! Neo has some great food.

[TrolliKC]

Meh. It's below grade and most people never knew it was there unless you ate at that terrible deli.

Hey now! Neo has some great food.

Their bibimbap was pretty good

[smh]

Meh. It's below grade and most people never knew it was there unless you ate at that terrible deli.

Hey now! Neo has some great food.

Their bibimbap was pretty good

And still is, they moved to Commerce Arcade along Walnut.

[normalthings]

July 2020 Update: 9 of 355 units open.97.5% occupied

[DaveKCMO]

At iconic downtown KC building, investors feud as tenants wonder who is in charge
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/a ... 03940.html

Bradley testified in support of an emergency request to a judge to install a new property manager. The building had not had a property manager since March 12, when the previous manager, Greystone, was terminated and told to leave.

Some of it has come true — the apartments are 90% leased.

But three floors of commercial space were never completed. And the partners in the $139 million redevelopment of Commerce Tower at 911 Main Street, particularly Carver and Knight, are at odds about who is responsible. They even dispute who can make decisions for the building.

And it’s unclear to Commerce Tower’s top investor what financial condition the redevelopment effort is in. References have been made in court filings that the project has been, at least at one point, unprofitable. Lenders had warned the investors last year that they were at risk for default on their loan. No budget has been circulated among the investors since April 2020, even though one is supposed to be approved by Nov. 1 of each year.

Oh, and Michael Knight has also filed suit against the streetcar TDD on the ground that the assessments aren't legal...

https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases ... urtId=CT16

[flyingember]

And against the downtown CID too

Going to be an interesting lawsuit when the previous owner of the building is a member of the CID and there's a state supreme court ruling refusing to overthrow the appeals court on the legality of the streetcar TDD

The lawyers having very relevant legal rulings directly relevant to a defendant is going to make this an interesting one to follow.

[beautyfromashes]

What would a loss even mean since the streetcar is already built? Would the city become responsible for the non-federal part of the assessment? Shouldn’t the city be paying for transportation anyway (or even better regional funding) like they do all other forms of transportation?

[DaveKCMO]

What would a loss even mean since the streetcar is already built? Would the city become responsible for the non-federal part of the assessment? Shouldn’t the city be paying for transportation anyway (or even better regional funding) like they do all other forms of transportation?

If the city lost one of two revenue sources for the starter line that resulted in shutting down the service they'd have to refund the federal grants -- about $60 million. Since this is likely an argument just about special assessments (which is why DCID was also included), it's unlikely you'd have to shut down the entire project. TDD sales tax revenue outperformed the original pro forma quite a bit, and this blip from the pandemic will likely end as soon as office workers return to downtown offices.

[normalthings]

STL Streetcar shut down a while ago and never real got up and running to 100% yet has never had to refund the Feds. Would hope we get as much leeway as they have

[DaveKCMO]

STL Streetcar shut down a while ago and never real got up and running to 100% yet has never had to refund the Feds. Would hope we get as much leeway as they have

Oh, yeah, and that project is in our FTA region so we're acutely aware of how long the feds will let things drag on before officially rescinding funds. You're gonna get a LOT of letters first.