KANSAS CITY'S DOWNTOWN RENAISSANCE HAS SLOWED, ALTHOUGH THE MOST OBVIOUS IMPACT, FROM THE ECONOMY, IS NOT THE ONLY FACTOR

 

While challenges such as the reduction of working capital and a decline in residential demand are among the issues impeding Downtown growth, so too is the fact that several milestones have been passed: The Sprint Arena is open, the Power & Light entertainment district is open, and numerous smaller developments are fast becoming part of Kansas City’s fabric.

Most of those have been big-time, high-dollar investments that were seen as linchpins for longer-term growth. With those in place, the level of development activity that effectively remade Downtown Kansas City over the past five or six years has more recently been, and will remain, difficult to sustain.

 

EASTERN PROMISES

The largest single gap remains one of the most promising. The sad collection of surface parking lots and dilapidated buildings east and north of City Hall is slowly moving toward redevelopment—although the operative word in several ways continues to be “slowly.”

The 12-block East Village project has the potential of joining the most dramatic Downtown landmarks with an aggressive plan to completely remake the last large area inside the Loop. Originally envisioned as a high-quality, mixed-use development with a roughly $340-million price tag, some key elements of the work have hit obstacles.

The most obvious involves Swope Community Builders. The primary developer of East Village, Swope is awaiting approval by the Missouri Department of Economic Development for a revised schedule and financing for 600 residential units and commercial space. Although the complex funding involving state Tax Increment Financing originally included a March deadline for construction to begin, Swope spokeswoman Crystal Williams said the organization was awaiting approval of a rescheduling proposal. That step is required because of the state’s tax-credit participation.

“We’re expecting an answer with the revised plan,” Williams said, declining further comment. “We’re optimistic we’ll get on track.”

Another factor in East Village’s relative lack of progress involves a General Services Administration office building that at one time was seen as a centerpiece for the development. With up to 2,000 employees that would have been consolidated from several locations, the office was originally seen as a major building block for East Village and a notable addition to the Downtown Loop.

The roughly $250 million project, however, has run into several snags. Among the first was a proposal last year for an alternate location near Riverfront Park. That debate was further complicated by changes in GSA personnel, the new administration in Washington, and calls to re-examine the location that threatened to derail a Kansas City site altogether. Additional hurdles include the economy, federal funding and federal decision-making that now involves further congressional review.

Mike Brinks, the deputy regional administrator for the GSA, said the issue was tabled by Congress late in 2008, then remained inactive during the transition to the Obama administration. In May, a congressional committee decided to review the location issue and requested additional information.

“We’re preparing that study now,” Brinks explained. “It was scheduled to go to Congress … and be taken up this fall.” Brinks noted that a major factor in considering the construction was relocating hundreds of federal workers to a single facility from several current locations.

A key element of the question involves several hundred employees of the National Security Administration, now at an older facility on 95th Street. With the manufacturing needs of that site being replaced by a new building under construction south of Grandview, the remaining NSA workers could remain at the 95th Street location rather than move Downtown, Brinks said.

“Those are the questions that they’ re looking at,” Brinks said.

 

LOOKING FORWARD

Other aspects of East Village are more upbeat. One of the original anchors is starting to settle in: The new J.E. Dunn Construction Co.’s headquarters will house 350 people initially and, perhaps more importantly, the $45-million plus building will set a new standard in an area that until now was not a downtown hotspot.

“We’re very excited about being the anchor for East Village,” Dunn’s president, Dan Euston, said. “We think it’s going to be good for the entire area.”

The economy, he acknowledged, was probably the biggest factor in slowing other aspects of East Village development, but he pointed to recent demolition work by the city and other key steps as signs that the work continues. City Development Director Bob Langenkamp also noted the work may lack excitement, but is nevertheless critical to any eventual development of the area.

“We’ve acquired all of the properties scheduled in agreement with Dunn and have demolished several buildings,” Langenkamp said. “The final two are now in environmental abatement, with demolition set as soon as that’s complete.” Those two buildings account for a single, large block and include a former fire museum and bus station.

Euston also sees a paradigm shift in the otherwise low-key blight removal. That groundwork combined with the increased “critical mass” of people in offices such as Dunn’s represent the beginning of a fundamental rebuilding of the area, regardless of other delays.

“Our building completes the Civic Mall, which is also very positive,” he said. “Those are the things that shouldn’t be overlooked. As we debated where to place our building, there were less expensive alternatives, but the Dunn family made a real commitment to downtown.” Like the H&R Block building, which Dunn worked on, the new corporate headquarters’ role as an anchor should not be underestimated.

 

QUIET GIANTS

A similar impact is likely from other large projects. The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is the most visible. Expected to open for the 2010-2011 season, the center will raise Kansas City’s cultural bar nationally, while increasing the synergy between the Downtown Loop and the Crossroads District just to the south.

Less visible—although it’s one of the biggest buildings in the region—is the huge Richard Bolling Federal Building. Originally built in 1963, this structure is in the midst of a 10-year, $250 million renovation that was accelerated this year as part of the federal economic-stimulus legislation. With a $103 million nudge from that legislation, the project is moving forward with major advances in security, energy efficiency and even comfort for the current 3,000 occupants. 

“It was a shovel-ready project and also offered a major opportunity for increasing sustainability and reducing environmental impact,” GSA’s Brinks noted. “And it can hold 4,500 people, so this increases its usefulness.”

The largest project still on the drawing board downtown is probably a convention hotel. While hefty public support makes the plan a tough sell in the current economy, advocates see it as a way to maximize downtown investments such as the convention center and entertainment district, while keeping the city competitive.

Ron Jury recently submitted one of several proposals, a renovation of the original Kansas City Power & Light building and a new, adjacent tower. Jury argues that the current economy is challenging, but actually offers some advantages for hotel proposals.

“Money is relatively cheap right now,” he said. “Construction pricing is reasonable. There are a lot of pluses to doing this right now.”

Jury, who successfully renovated the nearby President Hotel, also downplays concerns that a convention hotel would hurt other competitors.

“I have a hotel across the street,” he said. “I suspect both will rise with the tide. A large convention hotel will bring additional business to the city and I predict there will be up to a 10 percent increase in the market.”

Another project that just wrapped up, the $13 million renovation of the Crowne Plaza Kansas City, returns 385 more rooms to the Downtown mix.