P&L District: 12th & Main Site Proposal
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 4:20 pm
Jones Store site owner's plans don't get out of park
Jim Davis
Staff Writer
Downtown Kansas City is proving less hospitable to Time Equities Inc. than company officials had hoped last year, when they bought City Center Square and the former Jones Store Co. building.
Time Equities wanted to demolish the former department store to make way for a garage that would allay parking shortages for City Center Square, across the street at 1100 Main St. Those plans, contained in an October 2003 tax abatement request, never materialized.
In September, the city received approval from Jackson County Circuit Court to condemn the Jones Store building to add the property to the proposed Kansas City Live entertainment district being developed by The Cordish Co.
"We clearly would not have bought City Center Square or paid what we did had there not been the Jones Store site and the opportunity to improve the performance of City Center Square," said Phillip Gesue, Time Equities' acquisitions director.
Gesue said Time Equities continues what he called good-faith negotiations with Kansas City officials. But he suggested that the city was playing favorites by forcing Time Equities to sell the Jones Store building, which covers most of the block south of 12th Street between Walnut and Main streets.
"I feel it's inequitable," Gesue said. "Most lay people I've discussed this with understand the value of the Jones Store property to City Center Square. The city hasn't shared that view."
Jerome Wallach, a St. Louis-area eminent domain lawyer representing Time Equities, said he won't challenge the condemnation of the Jones Store building.
"Time Equities has virtually no option," he said. "We have to hope just compensation is met. That's the best we can hope for."
Wallach said he'll urge court-appointed condemnation commissioners to set a compensation award that reflects the property's value to City Center Square. The award could be made within a month.
"Is there a plan B?" Wallach said. "I know of no plan B. We have a severe detrimental impact on City Center Square."
Time Equities paid $32.1 million, or $50 a square foot, for City Center Square, Block & Co. Inc. reported. The purchase price for the Jones Store building wasn't available. The Archon Group, which sold the property to Time Equities, paid about $4.5 million for the building in 2001.
Herb Hardwick of the Hardwick Law Firm LLC, who represents the Tax Increment Financing Commission of Kansas City in the condemnation, declined to comment on the property's value.
A plan for the downtown entertainment district filed in June said the Jones Store block would contain a supermarket, health club and six smaller tenants.
Officials at Cordish Co., the district's developer, could not be reached for comment.
Andi Udris, CEO of the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City, said plans for the Jones Store block haven't changed. Udris said the block would contain stores, possibly topped by housing, and parking.
City Center Square has suffered from a lack of parking since the building opened in 1977. The building's garage contains about 350 spaces, roughly half a space for each 1,000 square feet of building space. This ratio is less than those of comparable downtown buildings, most of which provide at least two spaces per 1,000 square feet.
Gesue said almost all of the City Center Square garage's spaces are used. Future tenants will have to park elsewhere, he said. This requirement "eliminates larger users that require guaranteed parking," he said.
"You just stop leasing," he said. "You don't sign any more and hope you renew the tenants you have."
Occupancy at City Center Square, 78 percent when Time Equities bought the building in December 2003, now stands at 76 percent. Gesue said leasing activity has improved after a slow summer. He said that he hopes that the building will reach the downtown average, now 85 percent, but that the improvement could take as long as two years.
Reach Jim Davis at 816-421-5900 or jdavis@bizjournals.com.
© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.
Jim Davis
Staff Writer
Downtown Kansas City is proving less hospitable to Time Equities Inc. than company officials had hoped last year, when they bought City Center Square and the former Jones Store Co. building.
Time Equities wanted to demolish the former department store to make way for a garage that would allay parking shortages for City Center Square, across the street at 1100 Main St. Those plans, contained in an October 2003 tax abatement request, never materialized.
In September, the city received approval from Jackson County Circuit Court to condemn the Jones Store building to add the property to the proposed Kansas City Live entertainment district being developed by The Cordish Co.
"We clearly would not have bought City Center Square or paid what we did had there not been the Jones Store site and the opportunity to improve the performance of City Center Square," said Phillip Gesue, Time Equities' acquisitions director.
Gesue said Time Equities continues what he called good-faith negotiations with Kansas City officials. But he suggested that the city was playing favorites by forcing Time Equities to sell the Jones Store building, which covers most of the block south of 12th Street between Walnut and Main streets.
"I feel it's inequitable," Gesue said. "Most lay people I've discussed this with understand the value of the Jones Store property to City Center Square. The city hasn't shared that view."
Jerome Wallach, a St. Louis-area eminent domain lawyer representing Time Equities, said he won't challenge the condemnation of the Jones Store building.
"Time Equities has virtually no option," he said. "We have to hope just compensation is met. That's the best we can hope for."
Wallach said he'll urge court-appointed condemnation commissioners to set a compensation award that reflects the property's value to City Center Square. The award could be made within a month.
"Is there a plan B?" Wallach said. "I know of no plan B. We have a severe detrimental impact on City Center Square."
Time Equities paid $32.1 million, or $50 a square foot, for City Center Square, Block & Co. Inc. reported. The purchase price for the Jones Store building wasn't available. The Archon Group, which sold the property to Time Equities, paid about $4.5 million for the building in 2001.
Herb Hardwick of the Hardwick Law Firm LLC, who represents the Tax Increment Financing Commission of Kansas City in the condemnation, declined to comment on the property's value.
A plan for the downtown entertainment district filed in June said the Jones Store block would contain a supermarket, health club and six smaller tenants.
Officials at Cordish Co., the district's developer, could not be reached for comment.
Andi Udris, CEO of the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City, said plans for the Jones Store block haven't changed. Udris said the block would contain stores, possibly topped by housing, and parking.
City Center Square has suffered from a lack of parking since the building opened in 1977. The building's garage contains about 350 spaces, roughly half a space for each 1,000 square feet of building space. This ratio is less than those of comparable downtown buildings, most of which provide at least two spaces per 1,000 square feet.
Gesue said almost all of the City Center Square garage's spaces are used. Future tenants will have to park elsewhere, he said. This requirement "eliminates larger users that require guaranteed parking," he said.
"You just stop leasing," he said. "You don't sign any more and hope you renew the tenants you have."
Occupancy at City Center Square, 78 percent when Time Equities bought the building in December 2003, now stands at 76 percent. Gesue said leasing activity has improved after a slow summer. He said that he hopes that the building will reach the downtown average, now 85 percent, but that the improvement could take as long as two years.
Reach Jim Davis at 816-421-5900 or jdavis@bizjournals.com.
© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.