OFFICIAL: Law Building

[Gladstoner]

But doesn't the oil and antifreeze just run-off during a rainstorm into the storm sewers and end up in the river?

I guess it's a NIMBY thing. Instead of going into our groundwater, it just flows down river. It's water under the bridge at that point...... 

Actually, ground water cycles so much more slowly than runoff. Stuff would tend to accumulate there over time.

[Long]

The bus stop, which *originally* was in front of the Law Bldg on Grand, then moved south in front of Transylvania when the Law Bldg renovation started 3 years ago, has been moved back to its original location in front of the gravel pit. 

[paisstat]

Is there anything planned for this site?  I do love that gravel there now, I hope it remains a gravel parking lot, so urban!

[Long]

The site now has an urban chain-link fence around it.

[kid a]

unfortunately, that whole block is to be demolished and used as a temporary surface lot.
the word "temporary" i do not not like.  before anything was demolished there should have been
a concrete plan for something to be developed, i bet anything it stays a surface lot.
what a mistake, a large portion of where the sprint center is going was asphalt parking and was hideous
to look at, you would think the city would have learned from that outdated way of thinking. instead they
shifting one parking lot area to another block

[MidtownCat]

Another example of the same outright stupidity and short sightedness that was the contributing factor of killing the vitality of our city in the first place.

We need density and adaptive resue, not gaping holes in the core of our urban fabric at our most prominent downtown intersections.

I like you, have serious doubts about the "temporary" nature of this new parking lot.

[KCPowercat]

I've been told by somebody I would consider knows what is going on that whoever bought this property wants to build something on the site but is being held up by some title issues on the land due to the loans that the old developer got from trying to rehab the law building.

Hopefully that is true.

[paisstat]

I am typically against the destruction of the older building stock, as I was against the destruction of the Law Building.  That said, I wouldn't mind seeing those smaller buildings beside the former Law Bldg torn down.  They are far too low for a street the width of Grand and not very decorative in detail anyway.  I would love to see a redevelopment of this block and that horrific parking garage across the street with buildings similar in height to most of Grand.  I can keep dreaming!

[diamond]

i bet anything it stays a surface lot.

Kid- i'll bet you it doesn't remain a parking lot. 

[chrizow]

i really can't imagine that an out-of-town (nyc right?) investor would comb KCMO for prime lots ONLY to tear down a decent building and put a parking lot there.  surely someone who would buy a lot like this is aware of the KCMO downtown boom and probably is going to try to get a piece.  i hope/bet youre right KCP.

[KCN]

That is certainly a rumor I like to hear.  It just doesn't make sense to put a surface lot in such a prime location.  What, 1 block north of the arena/PLD?

[ComandanteCero]

i don't think it will remain a surface parking lot in the long term (just as most other surface lots in the loop should be developed eventually).  However, for the short term there wouldn't be much of a reason why not to make it a surface lot.  It's very possible the person who bought it wants to sit on the property, watch it appreciate, and sell it at some point in the future when someone comes along with a big enough project.  It's called speculation.....buy low sell high.  Does that mean we could end up with a surface lot for a couple of years?  It very well could be.  Does it mean we could have a project being built there 5 years from now?  It very well could be.  However, i think the point is it doesn't look like this owner is buying the property to develop it as much as to sit on it.  And it goes back to the issue of whether the Law Building could have been rehabbed into a mixed use residential/office/retail project within the next 5 years (particularly after the P+L district opened), as opposed to facing an uncertain future as a surface lot in the hands of a speculator with more concern for his bottom line than what effect it has on the city.

[moderne]

      The old renderings for Stan Durwoods never realized Power & Light District show this exact same block as a landscaped surface lot.  And this was before an arena was ever dreamed of for the blocks south.

[KCPowercat]

However, i think the point is it doesn't look like this owner is buying the property to develop it as much as to sit on it.

What I'm saying is this person says the buyer does want to build on it....now, not later.

[ComandanteCero]

What I'm saying is this person says the buyer does want to build on it....now, not later.

i totally missed your post KCP, it's good to hear!  Of course now the question is just WHAT are they going to build (i'd assume it's going to be a parking garage, with some street level storefronts).  It's probably not going to be residential (since they could have just rehabbed the Law building if they wanted that), or office (since the market isn't anywhere near even calling for new office construction).  My hope is that if it is a parking garage, it's well designed and hopefully fulfills parking requirements for future adjacent projects.......  Not as cool as rehabbing the original building, but at this point we have to work with what we have.

[Pork Chop]

[quote]Frank “Super Frankâ€

[Long]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit ... 691010.htm

Well, this at least sounds promising. . .

[trailerkid]

I think, at this point, it's fair to say that there certainly is something beyond a parking lot being envisioned. Whethere that something happens anytime soon is a totally different story.

[kid a]

i would have rather seen the law building rehabbed and used in a creative way, but i am happy to hear that there is possible plans of building on this site. i was informed earlier this year that is was to become "temporary "surface lot. i'm glad that at least it has a chance of being developed. let's just hope that whatever it is, it has good design and adds to the area.

[Tosspot]

Downtown property for sale after deal fizzles

Law Building site back on the market

The Law Building property, a strategic downtown corner one block from the planned Sprint Center arena, is back on the market after a purchase agreement fell through.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit ... 173097.htm