Renovations of apartment buildings along Armour Blvd.

[chrizow]

Has MAC sold this to them, or are they leasing it?

MAC actively sought out these folks and is collaborating with them directly on the project.

[chrizow]

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/14/45 ... evard.html

[pash]

.

[FangKC]

But a couple of years later, after a previous redevelopment effort fell through, Antheus and Mac took a second look. The developers reached an agreement with the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority to help acquire and redevelop five buildings: Park Central; Bellerive, 214 E. Armour Blvd.; Clyde Manor, 350 E. Armour Blvd.; Yankee Hill, 3430 Gillham Road; and an apartment building at 3411 Gillham Road.

But when it came to seeking private financing, there were no takers locally.

“I talked to eight or nine local lenders, and I heard about the same line: ‘Armour Boulevard — have you lost your mind?’” Unger said.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.c ... rylink=cpy

The thing that concerns me is the mention in the article that MAC went to several local lenders and no one would get involved. They had to go outside the city to get financing.

This is, and has been, an ongoing concern to me. So many of our downtown redevelopment projects are not getting financing from some of our big local banks.

If our own financial community won't reinvest in the very community where they live and work, how can we ever make progress improving things?

One would think that Commerce, UMB, Midwest Bank, Missouri Bank & Trust would want to finance projects that improve the very neighborhood in which they operate their banks.

The other thing is that to me Armour Boulevard wasn't the worst situation in our city. The street mostly was intact, and had fine old buildings that could be easily rehabbed. The street is lined with nice mature trees and is actually very pleasant physically. The location was ideal for many younger residents for a variety of reasons.

If banks are so unwilling to invest in a place like Armour Boulevard, what hope is there ever to redevelop streets like Linwood, Troost, Prospect, and Independence Avenue?

[taxi]

If banks are so unwilling to invest in a place like Armour Boulevard, what hope is there ever to redevelop streets like Linwood, Troost, Prospect, and Independence Avenue?

This is true and it can be a problem and a struggle. On the other hand, smaller and more organic development can be contagious and is generally more effective, in my opinion. Armour/Mac is an exception, mainly because all of those buildings were already there.

If the City/State/County would offer similar incentives to smaller developers, with easier application processes and smaller fees, I think the results would be just as good. It would take longer, but it would also carry less risk. I big developer undertaking, say, a 20 acre/$100M project like Columbus Park may transform the neighborhood over a few years; but, if they fail or even fail to perform, the blight can actually increase.

MO 353 abatement and even 10 year LCRA abatement requires a lot of upfront costs, time and administrative effort. So much so, that lots of small developments can't or won't bother. The one-size-fits-all application needs improvement. Simple programs like the Façade Rebate Program, which offered 50% rebate for façade improvements within designated corridors and was administered through HEDFC, was very effective.

If the streetcar makes it down Independence Ave, I think you will see an example of better, organic development, likely without a big player like Mac. It has already started and could use that kickstart. But it will take a long time for the banks to play along.

[Eon Blue]

Commerce can't finance projects, because then somebody might decide to develop their surface lots downtown. Where would they park then?!

I wonder if financing suffers from the same local/outside disconnect as residents? We've discussed here before how people that move here from elsewhere are impressed by the city and see its potential much more readily than people that have lived here their entire life. Does the anti-city attitude of many lifelong suburbanites trickle up to the leaders at our large local banks--leaders who may be those suburbanites themselves?

[knucklehead]

UMB and Commerce are both very conservative banks. They have pitched themselves to investors as very conservative banks. They are married completely to the suburban model.

Crosby Kemper is a big time conservative. He buys what Fox News is selling. Hopefully is children are not quite as dogmatic (and that is putting it nicely). My general uninformed understanding is the Kempers that run Commerce are not quite as "dogmatic." But Commerce is more of a St. Louis bank than a KC bank (please correct me if I am wrong about that). So KC pride may be a tougher sell with Commerce.

Don't see much hope on UMB and Commerce. They are what they are, stuck in the 1970s.

[smh]

It has been my general understanding that UMB has moved intentionally towards fee-based services as opposed to a lending institution. I can't speak to Commerce.

[loftguy]

R.I.P. - Frank Morgan and Merchants Bank

[aknowledgeableperson]

Yep. Bankruptcy will do that.

[herrfrank]

Commerce Bank is less St. Louis oriented than UMB is, and both are known as Kansas City institutions. Commerce's downtown operations in St.L are limited to a modest branch. There are a couple of bigger branches in West County, but nothing compared to its metro KC presence.

[knucklehead]

Thanks. I stand corrected.

[warwickland]

there is a smattering of commerce banks in the inner central corridor (in st. louis) but nothing like what you find in joco. i always thought of it as a st. louis bank too, but it seems to have a fairly weak presence compared to say all of the us bank branches around here (and umb).

[missingkc]

Good news for East Armour. City attempting to create less crime-prone tenant mix in Eagle Point, llc owned and managed apartment buildings.

http://tinyurl.com/klgdr8b

[FangKC]

Commerce Bank is less St. Louis oriented than UMB is, and both are known as Kansas City institutions. Commerce's downtown operations in St.L are limited to a modest branch. There are a couple of bigger branches in West County, but nothing compared to its metro KC presence.

Both banks historically are Kansas City-founded and -based banks.

Commerce Bank was started as the Kansas City Savings Association after the Civil War, by Dr. W.S. Woods and a group of local investors, and later became the National Bank of Commerce, then Commerce Trust. It was grown by William T. Kemper and his son, James Kemper, into a larger operation we know today as Commerce Bank.

UMB started as City National Bank and Trust. Rufus Kemper, William T. Kemper's other son, went to work at City National Bank and later became its' president. William T. Kemper later bought controlling interest in City National Bank. The name changed to United Missouri Bank and later UMB.

William T. Kemper's two sons later came to run competing banks.

William T. Kemper

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... X=1&REC=16

Rufus Crosby Kemper

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... OX=1&REC=2

[chaglang]

Good news for East Armour. City attempting to create less crime-prone tenant mix in Eagle Point, llc owned and managed apartment buildings.

http://tinyurl.com/klgdr8b

This is good news. MAC has been looking at Armour Blvd buildings on the east side of Troost for a couple of years, and the Bainbridge is a (the) major reason they haven't made the move yet.

The odd thing about the Eagle Point ownership is that they also own the Linda Vista at Armour and Tracy. It's majority Section 8, but we never have any problems with the building.

[missingkc]

Do you suppose that's due to differences in the ways building managers do their jobs?

[FangKC]

It could very well be the individual building management. One manager might not tolerate problem tenants and evict them if they cause trouble, or break rules.

Another building manager might not care, and is just there to collect a paycheck.

[chaglang]

Do you suppose that's due to differences in the ways building managers do their jobs?

Could be. The Bainbridge is also huge, larger than Linda Vista and Georgian Court (the other Eagle Point property on Armour) combined. They also have had problems with Georgian Court, but nothing like the Bainbridge. I suspect that there's some point where either the percentage of Section 8 residents in a building is high enough to create problems, and that percentage varies based on the size of the building/complex.

[KCtoBrooklyn]

Good news for East Armour. City attempting to create less crime-prone tenant mix in Eagle Point, llc owned and managed apartment buildings.

http://tinyurl.com/klgdr8b

So if these properties are declared "socially blighted," what can the city actually do about the situation? The article mentions pressuring Eagle Point to prompt better management, but I am skeptical of any real appreciable change as long as Eagle Point owns the properties and they remain exclusively Section 8.

Could the HUD Section 8 contract be voided? Could the properties actually be condemned by the city?