KCRag Forum

Great pics, thanks for sharing....but in the same time disappointing as I thought there was a master plan for this building but if they are hawking it for small office space, it doesn't appear that way.

maybe the question has been asked before, but why can't the YMCA move back into this building? too obvious?

I was under the assumption that there was at least a plan in place to improve the building to boost the office space occupancy, but when I asked her if there were any plans for the building, she said there wasn't.

A proposal going in front of the Chapter 353 has a redevelopment plan for this building asking for a blight designation and tax incentives. The plan is to turn the building into a mix of residential and office space. The upper floors would be converted into residential, the middle floors would be office, and the lower 4 would be converted to parking (yes, you read that right).

Here is the redevelopment plan.

KCDowntown

I don't see anything in the attached report indicating that the first four floors would be converted to parking. Can you direct me to the exact section of the report that describes that conversion?

Looking at the blueprints, I don't see how that could be done. The elevators are in the center of a pretty narrow floorplate to begin with, and there are what appear to be load-bearing columns sprinkled every few feet on those lower floors.

including the ground floor? that may not be allowed in the new zoning to be approved on april 7...

Agreed, what's the source on parking? Not mentioned in the 353 report.

Here is the agenda for the Chapter 353 Board Meeting. It mentions floors 1-4 being turned into parking.

Link

KCDowntown

.

bigger deal, taking the first floor for parking or demolition of some other structure for parking?

same question but assume it becomes floors 2-5

Why not just lease parking down the block? We just completed a parking lease for our building, rates are very reasonable.

The whole idea of converting the first four floors into parking makes me ill.

I noticed that the parking garage to the north of the building is owned by the Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority. Isn't that a quasi-city agency used for land redevelopment purposes? Isn't the purpose of this agency, and that garage, to make parking available to neighborhood buildings?

Couldn't the LCRA, and/or the City, make an agreement to lease parking to the Mark Twain Building so that the first four floors of the building don't have to be converted into parking?

.

If I were the City Council member voting on to give any subsidy for this building, I certainly would not vote to give that subsidy knowing that it meant converting interior floors of the building to parking, and secondly, knowing that the LCRA owned a large parking garage next door.

The other thing I want to know is how the developer plans to create entry and exit points for that converted garage space. How do they plan to accomplish this without modifying the exterior of the building? Will the modifications for entrance portals completely change the integrity of the historic structure?

Like ember said, pushing them to do parking on levels 2-5, except for entrances, might be a feasible compromise, assuming they can't be forced to eliminate it completely.

Why do I think these will be "luxury" units?

does anyone recognize the "twenty twenty broadway" developer name? it's the same address as garrison, which did cold storage.

Loftguy will probably know.

Garrison is on the SOS filings.

I don't know, this might work.

grovester wrote:Like ember said, pushing them to do parking on levels 2-5, except for entrances, might be a feasible compromise, assuming they can't be forced to eliminate it completely.

I hope they may want to try and utilize the 5th floor. It's the old ballroom from the Continental Hotel. Last time I checked, it was still a pretty nice. ornate room. Would be a shame to lose it.