KCRag Forum

I am considering buying a loft/condo in and around DT KC.

Where is the best place to invest?

River Market?  My first choice.
Crossroads?    My second choice.
Central Business District  My third choice
Westport        Too many drunks
Plaza                Too much money


Note...

It is friday night at 11:13 Pm, and I just got back from the RiverMarket brewing company..( i believe that is the name, right across from city market).....

I must say, I love the feel of the River Market, but it was DEAD.....  I figured there should've been at least a few people walking around outside, but NO ONE......  Being a lifelong suburbanite, I really wanted to be impressed tonight, but I came back dissapointed as Hell.... especially because I plan on coming back tomorrow (sat) and checking our the SoHo developments and the new coffee lofts and the 700 Broadway lofts.... 

I NEED URBAN.....  I'm sure there's gotta be someplace in KC that can give me that... please give me some advice...

to me, unless kansas city has just changed worlds and worlds, near quality hill, like around the 8th-14th and broadway, and upwards on quality hill, is best for anything happening on a consistent basis. i have been back and seen the whole first friday scene, and how the crossroads is coming to life, but to me the crossroads is as inconsistent as the west bottoms, alive occasionally when kemper is moving or the haunted houses are open, but not all the time. the crossroads is busy as hell on weekends, and of course, first fridays, but not all the time. for example, last time i was in i wanted to take my wife and her old roomate to the crossroads to see the scene, it was a friday, at 6pm, and it was fucken dead, half the galleries were already closed, and nothing happening. that is why i would stay away from midtown in general.

i lived on quality hill all my downtown years, and all the groovy loft buildings along broadway, on 8th, and 9th, were empty old buildings that were useless as hell. now, with all of those, the restaurants and bars in that corridor, quaff, the peanut, los corrals, the business the savoy generates, all that shit going on, i reccomend anywhere along 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, from say, main all the way to penn, whereever you can find lofts in that hood, is the best, because, like i mentioned all those business, then plus plus all the offices that are there, the lyric and the symphony, quality hill playhouse,  the conventions coming in and out of town, all that shit, seems to me like there is always something going on in that neighborhood. maybe not hopping like a first friday, but maybe a quarter of that, pretty much all the time. that is how it was when i lived there, and with all the refurbished loft buildings, and all the other new construction that happened over there....state street building at 8th and penn, bla bla bla, i just remember going to the quaff with friends from the hyatt almost once a week, or hanging out with chef dave from the savoy, there were always some people milling around at night, doing something. seems to me river market and crossroads are great, but not always shit going on.

that is just my take, hope it helps!!

skim82 wrote: I am considering buying a loft/condo in and around DT KC.

Where is the best place to invest?

River Market?  My first choice.
Crossroads?     My second choice.
Central Business District  My third choice
Westport        Too many drunks
Plaza                Too much money


Note...

It is friday night at 11:13 Pm, and I just got back from the RiverMarket brewing company..( i believe that is the name, right across from city market).....

I must say, I love the feel of the River Market, but it was DEAD.....  I figured there should've been at least a few people walking around outside, but NO ONE......  Being a lifelong suburbanite, I really wanted to be impressed tonight, but I came back dissapointed as Hell.... especially because I plan on coming back tomorrow (sat) and checking our the SoHo developments and the new coffee lofts and the 700 Broadway lofts.... 

I NEED URBAN.....  I'm sure there's gotta be someplace in KC that can give me that... please give me some advice...

If you just got back home at 11:15 or so, you left too early. River Market has a later bar crowd, they show around midnight.

yeah Kabal, Vivace, Harry's gets a pretty good crowd but it's not going to be the bussling action of a Westport on a weekend night....just not the capacity there.  You said you didn't want too many drunks but you want a lot of people on the street at midnight on Friday?  Probably going to be the drinkers.

chef is right...for the most consistant foot traffic, you'll probably be looking somewhere around Broadway in QH.  Always seems to be somebody out (for better or worse).  I think Wallstreet towers will be a hub of activity once the P&L stuff is all done...but those are pretty high end.

Just because it's downtown doesn't mean it's going to be 24/7 foot traffic...that doesn't happen in any downtown (outside of NYC, Boston, Chicago)

Boognish wrote: If you just got back home at 11:15 or so, you left too early. River Market has a later bar crowd, they show around midnight.

Besides, this weekend there are TONS of Halloween parties being held, which probably means less bar outings.

Are you set on a condo or loft? The reason I'm asking is that a house on my street is up for sale, an open is scheduled this weekend. Its a huge victorian brick home that is way way cool. It was divided into a duplex, but is ready to be converted back to a single family home.  Its close to downtown, very cool neighborhood, walking distance to grocery store, drug store, etc. bus line less than 100 yards away.  Its a very up and coming neighborhood, the house would be a great investment. 

I wanted a loft/condo downtown, but fell in love with the house we bought on the same street. It gave us the same feel we had in our loft, but more space than we could have afforded otherwise, and we've met more neighbors in the short time we've been here than we ever met in our loft building.  Here's a link: 

http://www.ericb.midstatesrealestate.co ... xt&id=2487 '
click on featured properties, its at 516 Olive, the mls number is: 1215434

Anyone looking at a home needs to check out this place. Its awesome!

Thx for all the responses...

I really like the feel of River Market, and the location is unbeatable..

The reason I'm looking to move DT is because I own a business in JoCo, and am starting a business in the Northland... So, I figure the best place to live is DT...

I'm still only 23 years old, so children/school districts don't really matter to me....  I just want a place that is different than Shawnee, (suburbia) and hopefully have a cool pad with some investment dollars returned in about 3-5 years...

tat2kc wrote: Are you set on a condo or loft? The reason I'm asking is that a house on my street is up for sale, an open is scheduled this weekend. Its a huge victorian brick home that is way way cool. It was divided into a duplex, but is ready to be converted back to a single family home.  Its close to downtown, very cool neighborhood, walking distance to grocery store, drug store, etc. bus line less than 100 yards away.  Its a very up and coming neighborhood, the house would be a great investment. 

I wanted a loft/condo downtown, but fell in love with the house we bought on the same street. It gave us the same feel we had in our loft, but more space than we could have afforded otherwise, and we've met more neighbors in the short time we've been here than we ever met in our loft building.  Here's a link: 

http://www.ericb.midstatesrealestate.co ... &mlsid=310

Anyone looking at a home needs to check out this place. Its awesome!

That link isn't working for me...

skim82 wrote: It is friday night at 11:13 Pm, and I just got back from the RiverMarket brewing company..( i believe that is the name, right across from city market).....

I must say, I love the feel of the River Market, but it was DEAD.....  I figured there should've been at least a few people walking around outside, but NO ONE...... 

They were all a few blocks over, milling about under my windows, talking and laughing loudly, and trying to figure out who had the tickets for the show.    Grrrrrrrr.     

Seriously, though, the pockets of nightlife in the River Market are pretty much concentrated along 1 block of Missouri Avenue, Walnut betweeen Misssouri and 5th, thw SW corner of City Market, and the 400 block of Delaware.    But even then, most of the people are inside the bars.    During the summer you can see more people about but even then it's usually just in the enclosed patios... but it at least feels more like what you're looking for because thee music from each place spills out and you geet an ever-changing soundtrack walking along.

It doesn't seem like the bars in the RM attract a bar-hopping crowd wwhich is why I think the streets seem empty.  People go to on bar an then tend to eeither stay there the entire evening or their next bar is in an entirely different neighborhood.    On rare occcasion I'll go to Winslow's after Harry's, but that's about the extent of any barhopping I've ever seen.

sorry, i fixed the link. 

rivermarket is downtown dog.

KCPowercat wrote: rivermarket is downtown dog.

Could you elaborate??

not sure what I was after there...look at the time

was someone chasing the pink elephant?

I live in the rivermarket and yes it seems a little dead at times.  I think this also has to do with how cut off it is.  A freeway separates it from downtown, the west side ends in a cliff, north of it is the river, and the most populated side of them all (the east side - Colombus Park) has that damn Heart of America bridge cutting it.  The neighborhood has improved tons though since I moved in last January.  Foot traffic has picked up and infill has taken place.  Bridgeworks in also in opening up soon, and 909 Walnut has opened.  The 3-4 units on Walnut will bring substantially more foot traffic to the area.  Honestly though, I believe the market is a move or two away from really getting over the hump in terms of activity.  HOK will be big, Bridgworks, 5th and Delaware, the filling up of Riverbend Condos (after they lost about 75% of what was filled while they converted rental units to condo, and projects just south of the highway.

The frustrating part is seeing how alive it can be during lunchtime and weekends.  Last night, I went out and the Vietnamese place in the City Market was closed, as was everything else in there.  Blue Nile was closed. I had pizza for lunch, so Minsky's was out, and I didn't feel like the Brewery or Harry's.  Vivace is pricey for a quick meal.  Cup and Saucer isn't usually open for dinner and I think Cafe Al Dente is still renovating.  Walnut Deli isn't open late.  Winslows was closed.  Le Fou Frog is too frou frou for a normal dinner.  Arun sounded good, but I had a friend that was cold and probably wouldn't want to walk what isn't far but seems like it.

I gave up and had to leave the neighborhood for dinner.

When talking about the market, I call it "the ultimate breakfast neighborhood," which necessarily indicates it is a neighborhood that is up early and to bed early.  Cascone's, Succotash, Diner, Cup and Saucer, CM Coffeehouse -- all great places and bustling in the mornings.  At 7 PM, you can't get a bottle of wine, a bite to eat or much of anything.

I wish some of the City Market places would stay open.  Discounts Unlimited in the market is a convenient place to get household stuff like cleaning supplies or shampoo, but it is only open during market hours.  Chinatown has some stuff, but a few more "normal" things would be handy -- they don't have skim milk.  The coffeehouse closes early, Cascone's, Diner, Succotash, Cup and Saucer all shutter before dinner.  It is frustrating.

Hopefully the added population with Bridgeworks, Cold Storage, First and Main and an eventual Cordish development will put the area over the top in terms of the density needed to support neighborhood amenities.  I think the market has the greatest potential to be a dense pocket "urban neighborhood" that is self-contained because it is surrounded like it is.  Development of the areas immediately south of the north loop would help a ton as well.

A day at a time... I'm just tired of waiting, and I've only been in the Market for a month.

Staub -- I surmise it's kind of a zero-sum tradeoff between the RM and your old west Plaza neighborhood, which is proximate to Westport and the Plaza, but you probably still weren't as close to those attractions as you are now to other businesses in the River Market.

I am speculating about whether or not the Westport vicinity is going to become a 24-hour district eventually. I'm wondering this only because Munchiez is open until 4:20 in the morning, and everytime I'm in there late they've got business, way more than what they had when they were a daytime deli.

that is why i actually always reccomend quality hill, or broadway between 6th and 10th in general, near the folgers building, the garment district, whatever it is called nowadays, all those old factories that are converted into lofts.

i mean, you have los corrals, red dragon, there used to be some little bar and grill close to red dragon, was at one time gino schiraldi's, last time i went, it was renamed, the peanut, subway has psuedo late hours, savoy if you are in the mood for fine dining, the quaff, quizno's, the pizza slut, tanners, a lot of choices right there plus a few more i did not mention, that are all within walking distance.

to me, i love the city market, and was so happy they re did it about 15 years ago, it would have been so sad to have lost that treasure. but even though they put in a lot of businesses, and made it really nice, they hae yet to get pm foot traffic where it needs to be. when i lived downtown at first, subway was not open yet, nor quiznos, nor the quaff, nor tanners, nor the peanut, none of it, except for the savoy, and time took care of that.

i think the same can be said for the river quay. in time, it will come to life round the clock, becasue i see it is still evolving, and still finding it's niche in the city. be honest, the way it was redone 15 years ago, we were almost trying to force it to become a vibrant thing like crown center, westport, or the plaza. now, all on it's own, without us forcing the issue, it is really coming into it's own, with regards to business, commerce, residential, and entertainment.

Where is the River Quay? I always thought that the City River Market was what once was the River Quay.

some of us older kc types still call it the river quay. until the h&r block project started, you could still see the old river quay sign on the side of the main street morgue.