It's nice to hear about a proposed crackdown on abandoned development projects.
While Mayoral Candidate Mike Burke's Renaissance North took a major hit in the story I can't stop thinking about the West Edge on The Plaza that's going to be up for sale at a huge discount and will undoubtedly hurt the bottom line of this town.
Even better . . . A friend of this blog much more familiar with the subject than me notes that there's no way the abandoned development will pick up a buyer WITHOUT EVEN MORE KANSAS CITY TAXPAYER SUBSIDY!!!
So, yet again this town is paying for consumer culture and the crappy ideas of Advertising people.
Imagine the money lost if you bought a condo !!!
ReplyDeleteHouses are being given away.
"No way the abandoned project will pick up a buy without a subsidy". What they mean is no one will pay a lot of money without a subsidy. Put the property up for auction, highest bidder wins. The only stipulation is the project either must be completed or torn down in a set time period. Make them get a performance bond. If the high bidder is $1 take it. If no one bids the city should start tearing down the project just like any other dangerous building.
ReplyDeleteTony, agreed. And I almost never agree with you. I hated this project from the start--all of that money used to displace people from reasonably affordable apartments near the plaza...now it's a freaking hole. Infuriating.
ReplyDeleteRemember Folks it's "A City that Works" !
ReplyDeleteWhat a nightmare thanks to our useless City Government and Mayor.
ReplyDeleteThis Pueblo on steroids turned a beautiful street scape into a canyon dwarfing all things around it. It is ugly now and will be when it is finished too. When egos get big the buildings get bigger.
ReplyDeleteMake Mike Burke give the City back the money he skimmed from Renaissance North!
ReplyDeleteIt is not KC's job to complete this project. Force everyone involved to either finish it timely with no subsidies or tear the damn thing down. The land is probably worth more than the tear down costs so the city won't lose. Tear it down, put a lien on the land for the costs and move on.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that some big ego was foolish enough to build a building the market said was unneeded and a bank was foolish enough to lend him money is of no concern to the city. But since everyone involved is probably donating to campaigns look for the city to bail them out.
Yep! and the political whores allowed the destruction of some great old apartment buildings to make way for this failure.
ReplyDeleteKansas City is failing apart.
ReplyDeleteBad Mayor
Bad City Council.
School closings.
Poor Snow removal.
Hostile takeover of Mast.
Huge Crime Problem.
Pot Hole's out the kazoo.
High unemployment.
Teachers laid off.... and so on...
Starting to look like Detroit.
With public employee unions, the Heavies and developers all feeding at the carcass there won't be much left in a few years.
ReplyDeleteAll the rant about how wonderful the old apartments were and soo affordable. I lived there. They sucked. What you didnt spend in rent you spent in utilities and inefficiencies and worried constantly if your car would be vandalized.Until this city adapts to higher density (taller) in the urban core this city will be indesireable.
ReplyDelete11.10 Why didnt you buy the old buildings if it is soo easy? By now you would be cannonized into Sainthood just before bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteIm not surprised the city hasnt shut down all those old buildings.One of the citys main budget focus is code enforcement. The city needs to promote urban redevelopment regardless where it is as opposed to annexation and suburban sprawl.
ReplyDeleteObvious justification for urban sprawl. This is not NYC, it's Kansas City. Most people (other than loud mouthed douche-bags) don't want to be hemmed in in tall buildings and crowded streets. Face it you idiots, most people living here don't want high density housing and crime and prices.
ReplyDeleteBlame it on the unions 1:52pm! How dare they demand honest pay and benefits. I can't believe they put in to law fair pay, health care benefits, pensions, safe work environments, legal representation of employees and anti-child labor laws.
ReplyDeleteWe need to go republican and scrap all work benefits, pay, health care, and safety laws and start over.
The country would be much better if we let corporations determine all of those things.
Interesting to note that Bob Bernstein was ordered by through mediation to pay JE Dunn $15 million bucks and months later, he still hasn't paid. He also hasn't paid the law firm that represented him in that mediation. This project is a mess and will be for some time.
ReplyDelete