FangKC wrote: ↑Tue Apr 18, 2023 9:26 pm
Racket Merchandise wins $5.8M jury verdict after runoff from neighbor's lot damages its basement
The owners of Racket Merchandise Co., a sixth-generation Kansas City business founded in 1891, won a $5.8 million verdict against owners of a vacant lot at 718 Grand Blvd. after heavy rain caused piles of clay to run off and flood the company's basement.
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Clay was brought in for backfilling and grading the lot. But the work was never completed, and the clay was left in piles. Rain caused the clay to run off and flood into Racket Merchandise’s basement at 713 Walnut, causing extensive damage, making the property unusable. Racket's property backs up to 718 Grand Blvd.
Racket Merchandise filed suit in Jackson County Circuit Court, claiming damages, loss of property value, loss of rent, loss of use, nuisance and negligence. The company also maintained that the clay was occupying the property and brought an ejectment claim.
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https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... DSqBVKmi8k
This is great news. If our city leaders aren't capable of deterring blight, at least the law holds these assholes accountable. The scumbag who bought this property also bought the old Sanderson's Lunch building – itself chalk full of fascinating history – and let them both rot until they were so far gone that they had to be torn down. He lives in Lincoln, NE. For some fun reading full of irony, see his website:
https://www.usproperty.biz/about-us/
I've ranted about this guy on the forum before. Here's a letter I wrote to him about 5 years ago, right after the 718 Grand Ave garage was torn down:
Dear Monte,
It has been over 5 years since we met. You may recall, I wanted to buy the small historic building on 8th St. in Kansas City, which you purchased at auction, along with the historic parking garage and tiny building that now houses a barber shop. I offered to help you develop those by securing incentives and other development services, or even find you a buyer. Instead, they languished. As a result of your neglect, they became even more blighted and are now gone forever, along with an important piece of Kansas City's history.
Your company claims to be “blight busters”, which is obviously bullshit. You took blighted properties and intentionally made them worse. Both of those buildings were left open to the elements and had homeless people living in them, for years. It would have been very simple to make them secure and delay any further deterioration until you could redevelop them or find a buyer. You did nothing and instead tore them down to create more vacant land, something the north part of our downtown loop does not need.
You are either misguided, greedy or just plain incompetent. I imagine it is a combination of all three. Or perhaps I’ve misinterpreted your description of your company, as written on your website. How did tearing down these historic structures serve to “encourage professional independence and personal growth?”
Did you “leave things better than you found them?"
Did tearing down those buildings "enlarge the kingdom of God using real estate?“ If so, he must need a lot of parking spaces.
If I were mayor of Kansas City, I would run your sorry ass out of town. If I were the chief of the real estate police, I’d put you in jail for life without parole.
If you plan to destroy more history, do it in your own hometown and stay the hell out of Kansas City.