Kansas City Katz Building Held Hostage For Tax Break Ransom

Real estate deals gone wrong bring out the worst in people. Today a Kansas City fight for cash offers a PERFECT example of this truism.

Check the highlights that are making the middle-class panic because high hopes for the streetcar extension have already started to fall apart . . .

KC Biz Journal: "Redeemer Fellowship, which owns the historic Katz Drug Store building, seeks permission to demolish the structure after incentives were denied for an apartment complex. If the city's Historic Preservation Commission denies the request, the property owner will have the right to tear down the building after three years if no better offer comes along."

To which we add . . .

PLEASE TEAR IT DOWN!!! HISTORIC OR NOT, KANSAS CITY SHOULD NEVER DO BIZ WITH PEOPLE WHO BARGAIN BY WAY OF THREATS!!!

The only way to answer this threat is by way of strength.

Losing the Katz building will be sad, so take a picture while it's still around. 

But giving into this kind open economic hostility sets a HORRIFIC precedent and will inspire every two-bit developer scrounging around for cash to follow the same greedy path to riches. 

More to the point . . .

Blame for the impending destruction of the Katz building belongs with streetcar extension supporters who have sparked a development feeding frenzy and rampant speculation. 

Critics of the toy train warned of the real estate nightmare that would unfold and now we're at the outset of developer mania in Midtown . . . More human tragedy will follow when residents are soon displaced. 

Sure, this low-rent church is bargaining like a thug but they own the property and it's their right to play hard ball. 

What's worse is that a rigged, gerrymandered vote for an obsolete mode of transit put Kansas City is a weak bargaining position that will likely end with the iconic building's demolition.

More info here for subscribers . . .

Katz Drug Store owner hopes to start the development clock with demolition request - Kansas City Business Journal

Redeemer Fellowship, which owns the historic Katz Drug Store building, seeks permission to demolish the structure after incentives were denied for an apartment complex. If the city's Historic Preservation Commission denies the request, the property owner will have the right to tear down the building after three years if no better offer comes along.