Film Row building threatened with demolition

[shinatoo]

Does the surface parking tax apply to the ground level of parking structures also? It should.

[chaglang]

What really grinds my gears, however, is that the city (according to Collison)has nothing in place to stop shit like this. Parking should be a separate zoning category or require a variance. The idea that you can still tear down an existing structure to replace it with parking is so ludicrous in a city as empty as ours that I can't figure out whether to laugh or scream. And with the streetcar coming in two blocks over (providing ready access to thousands of spaces) this is just more of Kansas City's one step forward, two step back approach to city building.

/rant

[KCPowercat]

How about build the garage on the site of the surface parking lot across the street. Could also scale it taller there as well.

[Midtownkid]

I think they should build another underground garage under the whole part of that block across from the Kauffman Center (to the east, grassy lot).

She should get a much bigger plan together for the whole block, includes a new garage. Keep the old building, incorporating its facade into a new building perhaps. Build a new building or series of buildings on top of the new, shared garage. Otherwise we will be stuck with this garage and later will need even more parking for whatever gets built there in the future.

[taxi]

I love in the rendering of the garage how they kept the razor wire fence on the property next to it. Always love how classy that looks.

And they put a see-through girl right in front of it. If I were mayor of the Crossroads, whoever did that rendering would go to jail.

[chaglang]

“...but if a building is not going to benefit the neighborhood, you need to have the best use,” Helzberg said.

And by "neighborhood", she means "Shirley Helzberg"

[smh]

Our lamenting this project aside, what practical steps are available stop the project? Or are we SOL?

[WinchesterMysteryHouse]

That garage would essentially isolate 17th Street to the north from the 'Old Crossroads,' 18th and southward. Can we presume intent? Further suburbanization.

[flyingember]

how is there a parking problem?

I have yet to not find an on street spot within a block of that location.

[smh]

how is there a parking problem?

I have yet to not find an on street spot within a block of that location.

+1. I suppose you could say First Fridays, but even then I've never had trouble finding a spot--and the Kauffman garage ALWAYS has space.

[Pastense]

This is truly absurd. How many millions of dollars did the city spend on a parking garage next to Webster House? It is extremely underutilized except on performance dates. Why can't Webster House validate for the structured parking next door?

[chaglang]

I think we also need to move on past the idea that a 185 stall garage is something the Webster House needs because people don't want to walk. That seems like a red herring. The spaces in Webster are tiny, and I can't imagine a banquet bringing in that many people. I suspect that she's trying to make a buck by drawing people attending PAC events away from the PAC garage.

If the problem is mainly on nights that the PAC has two events, does anyone know how many nights a year that is? 10? 20? Showing that the Orion is being demolished so the Ladies Who Lunch won't be inconvenienced on, say, 12 nights out of the year could be an effective rebuttal. At the very least it would show what a gigantic waste this is.

[KC-wildcat]

how is there a parking problem?

I have yet to not find an on street spot within a block of that location.

I'll venture to guess you're not a 60+ year old woman. Or, in other words, the Webster House's target audience.

Convince an old woman from the burbs to walk a couple blocks for lunch, and the issue becomes moot. until that time, Helzberg needs a solution to fix her cash flow problem.

That said, the parking garage plan, as slated, is horendous. No need to demolish the facade of that building.

[pash]

.

[KCPowercat]

Valet...solved.

[DaveKCMO]

This is truly absurd. How many millions of dollars did the city spend on a parking garage next to Webster House? It is extremely underutilized except on performance dates.

$48 million. about $50K per space. clearly shirley's never heard of VALET PARKING.

[slimwhitman]

This is truly absurd. How many millions of dollars did the city spend on a parking garage next to Webster House? It is extremely underutilized except on performance dates.

$48 million. about $50K per space. clearly shirley's never heard of VALET PARKING.

Free Webster House valet parking with double tips for life would still be WAY cheaper than building structured parking. We clearly don't know the entire story here.

[KCMax]

how is there a parking problem?

I have yet to not find an on street spot within a block of that location.

I'll venture to guess you're not a 60+ year old woman. Or, in other words, the Webster House's target audience.

Convince an old woman from the burbs to walk a couple blocks for lunch, and the issue becomes moot. until that time, Helzberg needs a solution to fix her cash flow problem.

That said, the parking garage plan, as slated, is horendous. No need to demolish the facade of that building.

I get what you're saying and I'm a bit sympathetic to this argument, but good grief, how many 60+ people live in real cities like NYC and walk miles and miles every day?

But yea, someone that has lived in the burbs for decades probably is going to balk at walking two blocks. Good heavens.

[KC-wildcat]

I get what you're saying and I'm a bit sympathetic to this argument, but good grief, how many 60+ people live in real cities like NYC and walk miles and miles every day?

But yea, someone that has lived in the burbs for decades probably is going to balk at walking two blocks. Good heavens.

Kansas City is not a real city like New York. This is a fundamental, rudimentary principle. Our urban development issues are unique to a sprawling, midwestern city built - out of necessity - on automobiles. Obviously, cities on the East Coast are not the same. KCMO, like all similarly situated midwestern cities is AUTO DEPENDENT. And this isn't going to change in our life times.

Relative to the urban core, the question is whether we are fine turning our nose up at suburbanites and adopting a "we don't need your kind anyhow" type of attitude. Or, in order for downtown to thrive, do we need to find a way to bring these suburbanites back into the fold. I think the answer is clearly the latter. We absolutely need suburbanites to frequent downtown. We need their money. We need their buying power.

The real question is how to cater to suburbanites without sacrificing those things that make the urban core so unique and, frankly, so much better than the suburbs.

I believe the answer is the Country Club Plaza. autos can be catered to in an intelligent way. obscured, tucked-away garages are possible. even if you want to build them up, instead of down, street-level retail or offices go a long way toward mitigating the negative affect of a parking garage.

Shame on Shirly if she just wants to plop a garage onto the site of a former building. But, if she can be talked into a garage with street level retail, that doesn't sacrifice the street-level pedestrian experience, than I've not got a huge problem.

[kboish]

I believe the answer is the Country Club Plaza. autos can be catered to in an intelligent way. obscured, tucked-away garages are possible. even if you want to build them up, instead of down, street-level retail or offices go a long way toward mitigating the negative affect of a parking garage.

This probably is the truth/reality of the situation. I do, however, feel there should be an immense amount of planning/thought/restrictions on how and where a garage is built and what they look like. Crossroads should develop some type of code requiring garages to be "hidden". Much like the garages on the plaza and the garage on 18th and Main.

In my estimation, Wyandotte is prime to become a retail/resto corridor and should be protected as such. Many of those building have been rehabbed into event spaces and/or are just waiting for permanent tenants. If they can build a garage that respects the area in this way, then great...her plan is to have retail on that corner in any case. hopefully she comes back with a plan to save the facade in some manner and still provide parking. As long as it fits in I'm okay with it. I do still have faith in Ms Helzberg to develop in a sensitive manner.