KCRag Forum

Question.. With Downtown KC moving in the direction it is, and money was not an issue, what investment would you make? buy land, convert buildings into condo/apts, start a club.. Just curious to see what people think.

Assuming it was possible, I'd buy up all the parking lots in downtown and infill them.

^^ lol everyone wants that

Open my dream bar in P&L district. Similiar to an ESPNZone for amount of TV's but locally owned. Called 5...ala George Brett. Bar would focus around Brett's collectibles, etc. All I needed was his money and his collectibles.

I think the dream died when he opened the place on the plaza.

KCPowercat wrote:Open my dream bar in P&L district. Similiar to an ESPNZone for amount of TV's but locally owned. Called 5...ala George Brett. Bar would focus around Brett's collectibles, etc. All I needed was his money and his collectibles.

I think the dream died when he opened the place on the plaza.

just open a similar one using Steve Balboni or Bo Jackson or Jim Eisenreich. heheh

I would build this:

Level the west bottoms north of 12th street and build a indoor amusement park with a roof that is taller than the any building downtown and looks just like the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz. It would stop right at state line, and on the Kansas side there would be a wheat field with Dorthys house in it. I would install gondolas to enter the complex from the park on the NW corner of the loop. The gondola would look like little Dorthy houses and you would land on the Wicked Witch of the East when you came in. Conventioners familys would never have to leave downtown.

And while were talking crazy. They could build a freway tunnel under 31st street from I-70 to I-35 and get rid of the south side of the loop. Kansas City is one of the cheapest places in the country to tunnel in.

shinatoo wrote:And while were talking crazy. They could build a freway tunnel under 31st street from I-70 to I-35 and get rid of the south side of the loop. Kansas City is one of the cheapest places in the country to tunnel in.

and then run the north leg of I-35 along the west bluff, above beardsley, since there already is a separation between the west side and the west bottoms, and i believe along the drop there is at least 120 lineal feet, but probably more.

Imagine that next to downtown. That would be a kick ass landmark that would make people think of Kansas city.
[/img]http://www.randysouders.com/souders1030oz.jpg[/img]

Sorry can figure out how to insert an image

shinatoo wrote:Sorry can figure out how to insert an image

Same thing you have, but take the slash out of the one of the front end of the address.

We can learn from the Emerald City. It is dense and nary a parking lot in sight.

Much Gratitude Mates!

now imagine downtown just to the right of that as viewed from the south.

I would do the following, in no particular order:

1) Renovate and infill the entire West Bottoms, creating a chic "bricktown" neighborhood, complete with some kind of elevator or skytram linking it to the CBD for easy pedestrian access.

2) Deck over and rebuild the highway system, enabling connectivity between CBD, crossroads, river market, columbus park, eastside, and westside.

3) Figure out (and finance) some plan to make it so all streets (esp Broadway and Main) are solidly developed from River to Plaza...none of this pedestrian-hostile "you're on a big bridge for half a mile between SW Blvd and Pershing" mess on our main throughways. I *hate* that. It is, I think, amongst the most awful features of KC.

4) Densify and infill the entire Vine Street corridor into a classy jazz district, especially up north where it has been utterly ramshacklified (not a word). Rebuild 12th and Vine to its former glory. Move The Bird's grave to the district. Connect it with infill and urban density to downtown, and 31st to the south.

5) Infill and redevelop parts of westside, celebrating the strong latino presence in the architecture and street naming.

Uh...what else....? Lots else, probably! Have to think...