Southmoreland

[FangKC]

In Europe, they would design any new building up the sidewalk where the lot bulges out into the street. They won't do that here because there is some bizarre penchant to have buildings set back 12-30 feet from the sidewalk and a useless patch of grass to mow.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0435638 ... a=!3m1!1e3

[FangKC]

A post on the Urban Core Group page says the mansion at 4526 Warwick is being demolished.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1230472 ... 9371729965

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.045284 ... 312!8i6656

[Chris Stritzel]

A post on the Urban Core Group page says the mansion at 4526 Warwick is being demolished.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1230472 ... 9371729965

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.045284 ... 312!8i6656

“They envision a high-rise there”.

Yea, good luck with that. NIMBYs will flip at that one. This should be a case where a project plan must be approved and building permits for the new building permit applied for and approved.

[Cratedigger]

A post on the Urban Core Group page says the mansion at 4526 Warwick is being demolished.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1230472 ... 9371729965

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.045284 ... 312!8i6656

“They envision a high-rise there”.

Yea, good luck with that. NIMBYs will flip at that one. This should be a case where a project plan must be approved and building permits for the new building permit applied for and approved.

Agreed.

Petition has been circulating https://www.change.org/p/save-the-hist ... demolition

[FangKC]

https://www.kctv5.com/2023/04/22/neighb ... emolition/

[kcjak]

How much are they trying to sell the house for?

[DaveKCMO]

I don't see any record of an MLS listing.

[Chris Stritzel]

I don't see any record of an MLS listing.

It was listed through Cushman Wakefield, but the listing is no longer on their website.

[DaveKCMO]

I don't see any record of an MLS listing.

It was listed through Cushman Wakefield, but the listing is no longer on their website.

As residential?

[Chris Stritzel]

It was listed through Cushman Wakefield, but the listing is no longer on their website.

As residential?

Not sure. The sign is still up.

With the demolition of the Holiday Inn at 45th and Main long complete, and the Price Management demolition of that Mid-Century Building at 46th and Walnut complete, I'm concerned that that when this mansion comes down, the Plaza area will once again pick up a vacant lot. The area is plagued with them. North, East, South, and a little bit of West Plaza are littered with them with no clear development plans. And they sit vacant for so long that they end up becoming neighborhood dog parks so when a developer does propose something, NIMBYs go crazy.

We need to stop these demolitions for speculative developments, especially if the previous buildings were in great shape and were able to be used as a temporary facility for something. Demolishing with the hope of one day developing is not the way to go. It might be the way things go, but come on. The state's premiere shopping district isn't as vibrant as it could be thanks to land speculators (Price Brothers, Price Management, VanTrust, American Century and the Merrimans).

Land speculation is a problem that is holding the Plaza area, as well as other parts of the city, back. Time to turn up the heat on these people to deliver or get the hell out.

[taxi]

The demo of this place appears Imminent. https://www.equip-bid.com/auction/24257

[kcjak]

Damn. Auctioning off everything from fireplaces to windows to radiators. All that's left will be a shell. This property is the victim of too many amazing older homes...elderly residents remain in the home for too long and are unable or unwilling to do any of the necessary upkeep. I get it - elderly folks sometimes can't afford to do upkeep, or move, or perhaps there is too much sentimental attachment to leave. But an elderly woman has little business living in a house this big while reliant upon a chair lift to get from one floor to the next.
I don't know all (or any) of the details related to the relationship to the sons to their mother or what kept her in the house, but I would imagine if she had lived it for 60 years she wouldn't have wanted it to be sold piecemeal and demolished. the sons did a disservice to their mom letting her stay in the house for too long IMO. With the sons saying they couldn't find a 'suitable buyer' it makes it feel like they did get some offers, just not what they were wanting. Sad.

[Midtownkid]

This demolition is ridiculous. That is one solid house and it looks to be in excellent shape. I can't believe it hasn't been put on the city's historic registry. The setting is still so residential in nature. A high-rise would be terrible on the spot.

The city really needs to adopt some rules where you can't demolish a non-dangerous building until the plans for replacement are fully documented and permitted. (and past any neighborhood opposition).

[im2kull]

I agree. I can't understand the benefit of demolishing a beautiful, 7,000+ SF mansion that is in great shape without any inkling of a development plan for the property. Charismatic, beautiful American homes are being destroyed left and right these days, and we're losing an important part of our history with their demise. It's hard to believe that historic homes are as undervalued in America as they are. Someone LOVED that home for decades and decades.. and now, it's going to be tossed away into the garbage heap. Without even being put up for sale. What a shame.

[taxi]

It has been for sale for a while. I imagine the cost to renovate would be more than the value, after renovation. That's a difficult equation in our current economy. Still a shame.

[DaveKCMO]

I'm now convinced this is 100% due to the greed of the family that owns the property: No residential MLS listing. Commercial broker pushing high rise zoning (even though KCMO's R5 doesn't appear to allow high rise?). Under-the-radar demolition before it has sold. I bet they wouldn't even entertain an unsolicited offer for a residential sale.

I don't blame the city at all. They don't have the resources to proactively add single-family homes to the landmarks list (nor should that be their priority). A national register listing provides zero protection from demolition (and Historic KC knows this).

Sure, it sucks to lose such a beautiful home but it's also sitting on a LOT of valuable (and walkable!) land that is clearly being targeted for higher density housing.

[Midtownkid]

I might feel differently if there were no good lots nearby to develop a new apartment building. But really, there are countless empty lots nearby.

Anyway, we all know the neighborhood won't allow a new building to go up here. So we will end up with either a hollowed out shell of a beautiful old home that is practically useless, or with an empty lot that sits for years.

This is wasteful, disgusting really.

No demo of existing buildings until there is funding and an approved plan for what will replace it.

[Chris Stritzel]

Application for this to be put on the KC Historic Registry (like the 31st and Main buildings were) has been made on CompassKC. A guy named Ryan Hiser submitted the application. The neighborhood supports this decision.
https://compasskc.kcmo.org/EnerGov_Prod ... f6c3ddf07c

[FangKC]

I wouldn't be surprised if the elderly lady's sons were just waiting for her to die so they could sell that house to property developers. If Whitney Kerr is involved he might have approached them promising to help get the zoning changed on the property to build an apartment building. I don't know how many times I've seen Kerr's name in an article and rolled my eyes.

Kansas City can do little to pro-actively protect homes like this unless there are much stronger state preservation laws. The chance of that happening in a GOP-dominated state government is nil. Kansas City could pass a strong preservation ordinance similar to what New York City has, but it would be challenged in court, and without state law backing it up, the ordinance would be nullified by the court, or the state legislature would react by writing a new state law banning municipalities from these types of ordinances.

[beautyfromashes]

I wouldn't be surprised if the elderly lady's sons were just waiting for her to die so they could sell that house to property developers.

So, this is a revenge demolition?!? "Let's destroy the house mom loved because she was a terrible mother"?