OFFICIAL - Loews Convention Hotel (formerly Hyatt)

[flyingember]

That looks like Bartle Hall, just on top of a building

[Midtownkid]

eh, it is "things sticking up in the air" but that's where the similarities to Bartle end.

It's just a sketch. I just want to see something interesting there if it's going to be so prominent

[JBmidtown]

Just say no to penis shaped buildings

[aknowledgeableperson]

An apartment will take up more space or square footage than a hotel room. Would you want to live in an apartment the size of a standard hotel room?

[bhedges1987]

An apartment will take up more space or square footage than a hotel room. Would you want to live in an apartment the size of a standard hotel room?

Half the rooms at one light is studios. That's the same size, if not smaller than a standard hotel room

[aknowledgeableperson]

"Half the rooms at one light is studios. That's the same size, if not smaller than a standard hotel room"

The studios in One Light are almost 600 sq ft. A standard size hotel room is between 300 to 400 sq ft.

[earthling]

When mixed use hotel/residential are built, the residential floors can be any size per unit, they wont be hotel room sized. And they may have different set of elevators.

[aknowledgeableperson]

"the residential floors can be any size per unit, they wont be hotel room sized"

And that is why they can probably make more money usage the built sq ft as a hotel room instead of an apartment. It's all about revenue per sq ft.

[earthling]

If its high occupancy. This is in most every major city and is known to be a good biz model. Is similar to a diversified portfolio to offset one in a potential down period.

[MidtownCat]

Guys, have we figured out how many floors this thing is gonna be?

[bhedges1987]

Guys, have we figured out how many floors this thing is gonna be?

LOL.... well someone one here spoke to the architect involved. He said right now it's planned for the height of a 30-35 story building, but with final tweaks it could be as tall as 40. If they build it on the hill of the lot it is on, it will look giant. It is about 4 stories elevated from the PnL building. But there is a hill there.... they could start the lower level on the low part of the hill which would make me very sad. Any one have info on that?

[pash]

.

[MidtownCat]

This thing definitely needs a crown. Just like the one at the K, and I'm talking just like it.

[normalthings]

Guys, have we figured out how many floors this thing is gonna be?

LOL.... well someone one here spoke to the architect involved. He said right now it's planned for the height of a 30-35 story building, but with final tweaks it could be as tall as 40. If they build it on the hill of the lot it is on, it will look giant. It is about 4 stories elevated from the PnL building. But there is a hill there.... they could start the lower level on the low part of the hill which would make me very sad. Any one have info on that?

Best case would be 40 stories on the hill.

[normalthings]

Cities like San Fransisco and Miami have a lot of foreign investment driving most of the new construction. Many Wealthy Persons from Asian and the Middle East put their money in U.S. Real estate. This foreign investment is something Kansas City Lacks. We should eventually market Kansas City to Foreign Investors.

This is absolutely a spot-on assessment. Kansas City needs civic leadership to start seeking out these types of investors. There are many new rich investors in lots of different countries--some of which have unstable or politically-unpredictable leadership--that make their money, and then want to park their wealth in the United States. They tend to do it in places like New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami.

China, India, and Russia come to mind since they are producing a lot of new millionaires and billionaires. Our leaders need to educate foreign investors, and market Kansas City, to those who don't know much about our city.

For these investors, they just want stability--to plant some of their wealth outside their country of origin. They want to own solid things like real estate. Civic leaders need to make foreign investors aware of the City's recent investment. They need to know that the Metro is growing; that apartments in Greater Downtown are 98 percent occupied; and we need more multi-family apartments.

I would go so far as to say that the KCMO.gov website should revamp their economic development pages to target foreign investors, so that the videos there that tout the City are available in major languages like Spanish, German, French, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindu, Bengali, Japanese, and Mandarin, so those potential investors can watch them in their native languages. This would be a very smart move by economic development officials. The same goes with the Convention and Visitors Bureau on the VisitKC.com website. This is a very simple thing to do to attract foreign investment and tourism, and a thing that many cities aren't doing.

" The latest data from the National Association of Realtors, which was released last summer, showed that foreign buyers had scooped up $68.2 billion of single-family homes in the U.S. in the year ended March 2013." http://www.cnbc.com/id/101316245

If we could get just 1%-2% of this ($682M - $1.34 Billion). $ 1.34 billion would be enough to build about 13, Two Lights.

[JBmidtown]

I have it on good authority that the number of floors will be equal to bhedges1987's post count minus the total number of registered Raggers whose usernames contain the word "midtown" at the moment of ground breaking.

Hey now

[bhedges1987]

This thing definitely needs a crown. Just like the one at the K, and I'm talking just like it.

Put a big ass jumbo tron on top of it, capped by the crown

[JBmidtown]

This thing definitely needs a crown. Just like the one at the K, and I'm talking just like it.

Put a big ass jumbo tron on top of it, capped by the crown

I can't think of anything else that could deliver a gritty, urban experience quite like a set piece from Blade Runner

[FangKC]

I'm more concerned with the overall appearance of the building. Something that tall should be distinctive for sure, but it should also be pleasing from all sides. Having a 35-to-40-story building is great, but having one that tall with two blank sides will not be attractive. It will not be a building in which residents can take pride. Since the building will not share the block with other buildings (that would obscure windows on lower floors), having two sides with blank walls is just a bad design--lacking imagination. Any building of size with blank sides is unattractive. One can understand a building having blank sides if another building might be built up against it someday, but this is not the case here.

I'm also concerned with how the hotel entrances and retail on Wyandotte and Baltimore will interact with the street. It's less important on Wyandotte, but not Baltimore. Will the retail spaces have outdoor seating, fountains, good landscaping? Will the retail spaces there help build street activity on Baltimore, and set a precedent for how other new buildings on Baltimore will be done. There are other parcels along Baltimore that likely be redeveloped in the future, and this project might help determine how the rest of the street design along Baltimore is done. Baltimore could very well become a feeder street from the Loop into the Crossroads, and I'd rather it be a lively street, and not a sleepy one.

[archiKC]

great idea about retail with seating along Baltimore, Fang. Especially with the Courtyard Marriott and Residence Inn going up directly across the street. During its peak use, this street could be very vibrant with restaurant patios and retail that caters directly to the out of town crowd. Throw in good street trees and landscape and people wont want to leave, or better yet, decide they want to come back.