KCRag Forum

Article in today's star:
http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/1520212.html

City ended up dishing out a cool million to buy out Gigi's Wigs, wrapping up the site for the same CWB that moved Lil' Jake's. With no tenant on the horizon and Jon Copaken saying "nothing is imminent," it'll be another city-assisted surface lot, all but destroying what is left of that block.

With this, the soon to be Shoppers Parkade surface lot, and the giant surface lot at 19th and Grand, I wonder if we ought to take Grand out of the boulevard system.

maybe they'll erect another pergola.

dangerboy wrote: With this, the soon to be Shoppers Parkade surface lot, and the giant surface lot at 19th and Grand, I wonder if we ought to take Grand out of the boulevard system.

I think a campaign advocating that, with the obvious intent of making a point, would be a pretty profound statement.

dangerboy wrote: With this, the soon to be Shoppers Parkade surface lot, and the giant surface lot at 19th and Grand, I wonder if we ought to take Grand out of the boulevard system.

Grand Avenue of the Americas Parked Autos

  Maybe we could get the flags remade to show the badges of various car manufacturers instead of countries. 

well, this WAS part of the deal of how the city got all the properties together for the PnL.  deal with the devil, one might say.  it's fugly, but it was always a risk.

why is this surprising and why isn't it attached to the previous thread about the CWB development on this site? or is it just disappointment over what's materialized here over the last 5 years?

once the law building fell and the CWB plans were announced I wasn't aware there was doubt the entire block would go next.

trailerkid wrote: why is this surprising and why isn't it attached to the previous thread about the CWB development on this site? or is it just disappointment over what's materialized here over the last 5 years?

once the law building fell and the CWB plans were announced I wasn't aware there was doubt the entire block would go next.

Assembling land for a project that has an imminent economic development impact is one thing. Land banking for a developer's someday whims is another matter entirely. There is no reason to remove these buildings for a parking lot with no plans on the horizon for a replacement.

This directly contradicts the new Greater Downtown Plan's prohibition on additional surface parking lots.  Give Copaken the land, but require him to keep the building standing and leased until he's ready to build that skyscraper.

Is the part of the article stating that Embarq and Applebees HQ's have left the KC area accurate?  I know Applebees was bought by IHOP but I thought it's HQ remained in KC.  Have not heard anything about Embarq HQ leaving.  

I kind of doubted that Applebees would have ever moved DT let a lone to the space in question but once had some hope for Embarq. 

Technically, both Applebee's HQ (California) and Embarq's HQ (Louisiana) have moved away, but they have kept their offices here.

Highlander wrote: but once had some hope for Embarq. 

For all intents and purposes doesn't exist anymore - CenturyTel has no committment to the KC metro. 

Downtown buildings torn down, will become parking space

The wrecking ball has arrived at the former Lil? Jake?s and Gigi?s, and when the buildings are gone, a 137-space parking lot should be ready for the Big 12 basketball tournament.

Crews are demolishing the buildings at 1219-21 Grand Blvd. that housed Gigi?s Wigs and Beauty Supply, and 1227 Grand where the pink concrete pig once stood sentinel at Danny Edwards Lil? Jake?s Eat It and Beat It.

Gotta love how this was apparently rushed through in time for the B12 tournament.  Was parking even remotely an issue last time we hosted it?  Do the jackasses in city hall think having an entire block of asphalt accross the street from the arena will somehow make KC look like a better city?

probably doesn't make us look any worse than the vacant buildings.  The problem here is giving cwb the land/buildings w/o a plan that was going to be built 'anytime soon'.

My biggest issue is that the demo and the parking were partly funded by the city. What a waste.

shinatoo wrote: My biggest issue is that the demo and the parking were partly funded by the city. What a waste.

maybe the new city manager will have different perspective on such things. amazing that this was funded in the midst of a budget crisis.

Pretty depressing driving up the heart of Grand these days to see construction barriers up on TWO whole blocks - all for nothing more than asphalt parking. 

Thank you Funk&co. for your grand leadership. 

When its said this was partly funded by the City that is only technically correct.  This was the consideration for a land swap under which CWB performed 5 years ago, with some property for the P and L district.  Admittedly, CWB got the better end of the bargain only because few improvements in the area were made at the time they performed.

I don't care about the particular buildings that were torn down but it seems like surface parking in downtown is kind of like an air bubble in a water bed, stamp it out in one place and it moves somewhere else.  With the Sprint Center and the P&L District (which is replete with garages), I naively thought surface parking had been essentially eradicated in the south loop only to hear that it has reappeared with the backing of the city.  It's pretty sorry that the real estate value of such a prominent location in the city does not preclude the use of the land for surface parking; it shows downtown has a long way to go still. 

I did think the following statement in the star was kind of amusing....
Claude Page, a development specialist for Kansas City, said the parking lot will cost about $500,000 to design and construct.
The idea of an architect being paid to design a surface lot is just wrong.