KCRag Forum

GRID wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 8:18 pm
Oak Tower needs to be renovated, but it's pretty well leased by city agencies I think. That building might changes uses, but it's a pretty solid building with a small foot print and tall unlike all the govt buildings. So it is not really a problem.

I don't believe the city has used that building in over a decade. It's mostly a data center and empty floors at this point from what I understand. I'd love to see this building rehabbed with the original exterior restored.

dnweava wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 11:25 pm

GRID wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 8:18 pm
Oak Tower needs to be renovated, but it's pretty well leased by city agencies I think. That building might changes uses, but it's a pretty solid building with a small foot print and tall unlike all the govt buildings. So it is not really a problem.

I don't believe the city has used that building in over a decade. It's mostly a data center and empty floors at this point from what I understand. I'd love to see this building rehabbed with the original exterior restored.

Yeah, I was not sure if the city was still leasing there or not. I'm just saying that the building is not big dead zone, even if empty, it's tall and has a small footprint and is against the sidewalks unlike most gov buildings.

I thought a few years ago, somebody was going to try to restore it with its original facade? It would be an amazing if that happened. If the stadium goes in, I would think that building would get repurposed relatively quickly, I would hope.

GRID wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 11:29 pm

dnweava wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 11:25 pm

GRID wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 8:18 pm
Oak Tower needs to be renovated, but it's pretty well leased by city agencies I think. That building might changes uses, but it's a pretty solid building with a small foot print and tall unlike all the govt buildings. So it is not really a problem.

I don't believe the city has used that building in over a decade. It's mostly a data center and empty floors at this point from what I understand. I'd love to see this building rehabbed with the original exterior restored.

Yeah, I was not sure if the city was still leasing there or not. I'm just saying that the building is not big dead zone, even if empty, it's tall and has a small footprint and is against the sidewalks unlike most gov buildings.

I thought a few years ago, somebody was going to try to restore it with its original facade? It would be an amazing if that happened. If the stadium goes in, I would think that building would get repurposed relatively quickly, I would hope.

Believe they were hoping for some reworking of the opportunity zones downtown.

Don’t think the state decided to change those lines to include the building which is across the street from the current boundary

The owner of the building on NE corner of 10th and Charlotte has been resisting offers for property for past several years. He has built a high revenue practice there and from previous info thought he would be outside stadium footprint. Now in left field. He will have to be paid a lot to relocate to similar building in area or be taken in eminent domain.

TheUrbanRoo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 12:35 am My unpopular opinion they really should tear down and re-do the 'East Village Apartments' site right next to the stadium and do a higher & more dense project than that. Especially with its parking lot. I think in a decade from now that site will look very out of place right across the street from stadium.

Called it^

'Royals ballpark could demolish 50 KC apartments. Their builder wants to be part of a solution'
https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... -cbkc.html

Scanned a few old pics. This has not changed much other than I think there is far less demand for parking in that area now.

https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/ga ... ansas-city

Maybe unrelated, but any thoughts on this?

I predict that he will say that if KC approves a downtown stadium, he will play a dozen dates at the new stadium.

GRID wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 5:39 pm Scanned a few old pics. This has not changed much other than I think there is far less demand for parking in that area now.

Here's roughly the same view from a few weeks back.

It's good to see that one of the low rise parking structures and the EV apartments are coming down if the stadium goes there. That apartment building looks like it was put up cheaply and already looks like hud housing or something and it's just too small of building.

Need to get rid of the JE Dun low rise garage too and replace that half block with something more dense and mixed use.

That drive through Commerce Bank lol...

What was the sporting goods store in the middle of the old picture? I can't remember the name but it was all the rage when I was a kid.

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 8:53 pm What was the sporting goods store in the middle of the old picture? I can't remember the name but it was all the rage when I was a kid.

It was only a sporting good store for a few years. It was the main greyhound bus stadium before that. I don't think it survived very long due to a "perceived" lack of parking

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 8:53 pm What was the sporting goods store in the middle of the old picture? I can't remember the name but it was all the rage when I was a kid.

I remember we made a special trip down there (I grew up in Platte City) when I was a kid, but that was a long time ago. I’m thinking it was called the “Sportscastle” or “Nill Brothers Sportscastle”. Am I crazy?

KCDowntown

KCDowntown wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 10:25 pm

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 8:53 pm What was the sporting goods store in the middle of the old picture? I can't remember the name but it was all the rage when I was a kid.

I remember we made a special trip down there (I grew up in Platte City) when I was a kid, but that was a long time ago. I’m thinking it was called the “Sportscastle” or “Nill Brothers Sportscastle”. Am I crazy?

KCDowntown

Was that Merle Harmons Fan Fair or was that another place in the mall?

GRID wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 7:56 pm It's good to see that one of the low rise parking structures and the EV apartments are coming down if the stadium goes there. That apartment building looks like it was put up cheaply and already looks like hud housing or something and it's just too small of building.

Need to get rid of the JE Dun low rise garage too and replace that half block with something more dense and mixed use.

That drive through Commerce Bank lol...

It goes several floors underground, it's a pretty big garage actually.

TheUrbanRoo wrote: ↑Tue Aug 22, 2023 10:40 pm After a long day of stewing on this I have some thoughts....

-I wish they would go a little more vertical in the EV site, although I can live with it
-The ballpark looks **far too basic**. Especially for all the hype around KC having the best sports architects
-The renderings list almost all the buildings as commercial and not residential...how there is little to no residential planned here I have no idea
-Petco Park is the closest comp, maybe a mix of Nationals Park in DC as well
-This would be far superior to what they build in Target Field & Busch stadium surroundings
-My final thought, just a hunch, I think this project will finally give KC a really active downtown

My initial thoughts as well including a fairly ho hum basic design for KC being home of sport architects. I suppose the street experience matters more and in order to support two entertainment districts outside event days downtown will need a lot more residential, pretty much every available spot around E Loop needs to be as large a residential project as possible, 10-30+ floors mixed about. And the corners of the ballpark itself could have tallish residential buildings fused in as well. With a lively E Loop, more residential density should eventually build up E of the E Loop. It will take significant residential density to keep E Loop and stadium area active between events as it won't get much foot traffic from the Main Street streetcar outside events.

But if significant taxpayer support is needed, I don't see this getting enough votes anyway.

dnweava wrote: ↑Fri Aug 25, 2023 8:33 am

GRID wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 7:56 pm It's good to see that one of the low rise parking structures and the EV apartments are coming down if the stadium goes there. That apartment building looks like it was put up cheaply and already looks like hud housing or something and it's just too small of building.

Need to get rid of the JE Dun low rise garage too and replace that half block with something more dense and mixed use.

That drive through Commerce Bank lol...

It goes several floors underground, it's a pretty big garage actually.

Yeah I don't see that garage going away but I'd hope they could either knock some retail holes in the Cherry st. side or even build outwards towards Cherry St. and make that a ped experience during gamedays. It would take some Cherry St. reconfiguring of course but we're going to be blowing up the whole area so that shouldn't be a big lift.

And to Grid's Commerce drive thru. That's gone in the plan.

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 8:53 pm What was the sporting goods store in the middle of the old picture? I can't remember the name but it was all the rage when I was a kid.

Gart Brothers Sportscastle

KCDowntown wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 10:25 pm

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 8:53 pm What was the sporting goods store in the middle of the old picture? I can't remember the name but it was all the rage when I was a kid.

I remember we made a special trip down there (I grew up in Platte City) when I was a kid, but that was a long time ago. I’m thinking it was called the “Sportscastle” or “Nill Brothers Sportscastle”. Am I crazy?

KCDowntown

It must have had some buzz. I remember being taken there as a child (coming from the Northland). I remember something like a large white carpeted treadmill / conveyer belt thing on a downward 45 degree slope where you could test out downhill skiing.

Critical_Mass wrote: ↑Fri Aug 25, 2023 11:21 am

KCDowntown wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 10:25 pm

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 8:53 pm What was the sporting goods store in the middle of the old picture? I can't remember the name but it was all the rage when I was a kid.

I remember we made a special trip down there (I grew up in Platte City) when I was a kid, but that was a long time ago. I’m thinking it was called the “Sportscastle” or “Nill Brothers Sportscastle”. Am I crazy?

KCDowntown

It must have had some buzz. I remember being taken there as a child (coming from the Northland). I remember something like a large white carpeted treadmill / conveyer belt thing on a downward 45 degree slope where you could test out downhill skiing.

That was an extremely popular Denver based store and I remember being ecstatic when they announced their KC store back in 1988 as I was an avid skier back in the day. There was a lot of optimism about downtown in 1988 - all office and retail related though, few were thinking of residential.

That Gart Brother Store in Denver I thought would be an eternal institution. It wasn't. Even things in Denver fail.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7322606 ... ?entry=ttu


Back to the photos posted, they just solidify the need for a downtown solution to the Royals location dilemma. That's a huge amount of space in eastern downtown that has been sitting empty for decades. Not sure you can find that scale of contiguous abandoned lots in any downtown elsewhere in the US. It's going to take a few generations to fill that in (if it ever happens) without the Royals. A NKC move would rival Cerner's SE KC move in missed opportunities for KC.