DowntownKC.net

KC developer fined (KC Star)

A Kansas City developer will pay $200,000 in penalties and fines for removing asbestos illegally while rehabbing a tower of condominiums.

Matt Abbott, 34, pleaded guilty Monday to criminal charges in connection with the improper removal of asbestos from a building in Kansas City. Abbott is the owner of The Manhattan condominiums, also known as University Tower apartments.

Interestingly, in 2005, the developers for The View (which is next door to The Manhattan) were charged for improper asbestos removal.

The View will pay fine for asbestos removal

The DNR said it had received a complaint about renovations at the former Vista Del Rio building, at 600 Admiral Blvd., and sent an investigator to the site on Dec. 15, 17 and 19, 2003.

The department concluded that the company hadn’t notified the proper authorities about the asbestos-abatement project and that it had used untrained, uncertified workers who improperly removed materials that contained asbestos.

The workers were spraying the material with a high-powered pressure washer and improperly packaging and containing it for disposal, the DNR said.

The settlement alleges that the company violated the state’s Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants law and the Missouri Air Conservation law.

I gotta imagine if The View was only charged $20k, and Abbott was charged $100k as well as settling a civil suit for another $100k, that criminal charges, if not imminent, are seriously being considered.

Abbott told Judge Scott O. Wright that he was guilty of violating the Toxic Substances Control Act and that his corporation, Manhattan K.C. LLC, was guilty of violating the Clean Air Act. The charge against Abbott is a misdemeanor and carries a penalty of up to one year in jail. The charge against the corporation is a felony.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts the rest of the project. Last I heard, only a few units were left, and with this news, I must say they might be a hard sell at this point for any knowledgeable buyers. What really irritates me is when I was looking at buying at the Manhattan, I spoke with Matt about how the Asbestos removal process went, and he flat out lied to me and my family by saying it went fine. I also feel sorry for the prior residents, who were already poor, they then had to be subjected to improper asbestos removal while they resided on the floors below.

A GRAND BOULEVARD Rally ’round the flags (KC Star)

Grand Boulevard appears destined to become the “Boulevard of the Americas,” flying flags of more than 30 Western Hemisphere countries under a plan approved Tuesday by the park board.

Civic activist Jim Malouff has secured City Council backing and $45,000 for the project, which could get under way this year. The Downtown Council has agreed to maintain banners featuring the various flags, which will be hung permanently from light poles between Second and 28th streets.

The colorful flags “will contribute to the beautification of Grand Boulevard … and add to the ambience of downtown,” Malouff said.

The name change to Grand Boulevard of the Americas will be honorary and will not require businesses to change their formal addresses.

I think it’s an awesome idea! Anything to make downtown more unique is a great thing.

The Downtown Kansas City Council just released their annual Economic Impact report, you can find a PDF of it here.

Here are a few highlights on the impact of a $4 billion transformation of the city’s urban center.

Residential Statistics

• 861 units completed in the last 4-5 months
• 988 units under construction
• 2,649 units planned
• Since 2005, 630 affordable housing units have been completed.
• Over 16,000 residents live Downtown.
• Population of downtown expected to grow on a yearly basis through 2030 after negative growth from 1970-2000
• Between 2000 and 2006, the number of residential units Downtown increased 50 percent, a $630 million investment Downtown.

Most Expensive Projects Since 2006

• IRS Regional Service Center - $370,000,000
• Power and Light District - $350,000,000
• Kaufmann Center for the Performing Arts - $326,000,000
• Sprint Center Arena - $251,000,000
• Federal Building - $200,000,000
• Federal Reserve Bank - $200,000,000
• Kansas City Star Printing Press - $199,000,000

Business Statistics

• There are approximately 3,000 businesses Downtown, employing 100,000 people.
• Approximately 35% of Kansas City, MO employees and 10% of the MSA’s employees work Downtown.

Cordish adds two tenants to Power & Light District

The first is Maker’s Mark Bourbon House & Lounge, a 6,000 sq. ft. restaurant that already has a location in Louisville. But the other has me really excited, a Howl at the Moon dueling piano bar. KC will be Howl’s 13th location in the US and looks to be a ton of fun!

From Howl’s About Us page

Howl at the Moon takes the term “piano bar” to new heights, with the piano players offering up witty discourse while encouraging the audience to “sing-along” to songs almost everyone knows by heart. Anyone who delights in good music will have a wonderful experience. Howl at the Moon strives to keep their shows fresh with a mainstream and recognizable format that allows their typical customer to sing along with 90% of the songs.

Every staff member of the Howl at the Moon is involved with entertaining guests. There are staff “ShowTime” routines at the bar or on stage, and some (with talent) even perform with the piano players.
Howl at the Moon is a place where you’ll find “friends you have not met yet,” with everyone drawn together by the camaraderie and nostalgia to form one large, synergistic party, swaying to the music, bellowing out familiar lyrics.

It’s a place for a good time - for traveling business people and conventioneers in search of local color, and for people of all ages and occupations in the community. Although there are regulars, you will never find exactly the same people at “Howl” on any given night. The “Howl” is a hot spot for birthdays, anniversaries, bachelor, and bachelorette parties.

To get an idea of what we’re in store for, check out “Howl at the Moon” videos on YouTube.

Don’t worry Cigar Box, you’ll still always be my favorite.

Looks like KC is having it’s 3rd major fire in the last month, completely destroying another building just east of downtown at 7605 E. 12th.

KC Star article with video link.
Three-alarm fire burning on KC’s east side

What started out as a potentially great project just got a swift kick in the nuts. East Village is the leader as federal building site (KC Star).

Here’s the issue, the General Services Administration is wanting to consolidate its scattered KC offices and build a 700,000 sq. foot complex. Essentially, it would be a slightly smaller version of the IRS complex recently built next to Union Station, but right smack in the middle of what was initially supposed to be a vibrant 12 sq. block resident/retail project dubbed ‘The East Village’.

I can handle the boring 8-5/M-F government district we currently have downtown as long as it is surrounded by something with a little bit of life, but this would essentially turn the entire east side of downtown into a dead zone outside of business hours. Building a complex this size within walking distance of the new entertainment district and the Sprint Center just seems like an awful waste of space.

If you wanna see comments from some pissed off people about this issue, check out the East Village Thread.

The KC Business Journal just published an article (MoDOT move enables housing redevelopment in Columbus Park) about the Missouri Dept of Transportation agreeing to relocate from Columbus Park to the West Bottoms. This will allow Zimmer Real Estate Services to proceed with plans to convert 22 acres of land just east of the River Market into 360 housing units and 30,000 sq. feet of commercial property. This is great news for the downtown area as that is prime location for anyone looking for urban living, not in the middle of downtown.

Currently, the east side of the river market is booming with available property, Cold Storage Lofts just opened up, Bridgeworks Lofts still has a couple units left along with another project (townhomes?) just to the west of it opening within a few years. Hopefully the commercial property aspect of this project can add some much need essential amenities to the incoming residents. I met one of the developers with this project while on vacation last summer, and he couldn’t have been more excited about the potential this project has. He was convinced it was the next hot spot for urban redevelopment.

Looks like The Crossroads district is about to get two new condo projects, adding 223 new units to the neighborhood. Pricing and Floor plans should be available within 2-3 weeks.

First tractors, jeans, now condos

The Piper Lofts will have 118 condos ranging in size from 800 square feet to more than 2,000 square feet. Prices will range from $175,000 to $650,000, and monthly homeowner fees will be in the range of 25 cents to 30 cents per square foot.

The Windows Lofts will have 105 condos ranging from 800 square feet to 1,700 square feet with prices from $175,000 to $375,000 and similar homeowner fees.

This may be old news, but a few months ago I read that the World Leadership Forum selected Kansas City as a finalist for their annual Urban Renewal award, with the competition being Manchester (England), Calcutta (India), and St. Louis. Well, I never did follow up to see who won the award, but it looks like last December it was awarded to the city of St. Louis.

But don’t worry, there won’t be much of a St. Louis lovefest going on in here. So to remind everyone not to be envious, here are 10 Reasons Why St. Louis Sucks

1. They totally ripped off their major landmark from the McDonalds corporation.

2. Self proclaimed “Gateway to the west”. Pretty pompous if you ask me.

3. First settled by the French.

4. Home of the worst World Series championship team of all time (hey, if we have to put up with that “06 Steelers were worst Super Bowl team” crap, why should they get off so lightly?)

5. St. Louis style ribs stink. The sauce is runny and they pale in comparison to Texas style.

6. Ever had a Budweiser hangover?

7. Gretzky played there.

8. Tony Twist doesn’t play there anymore.

9. They stole their NFL franchise from those poor die hard football fans in Los Angeles. (wow… that was even hard for me to type)

10. It stinks so bad that I can’t even come up with a tenth good reason.

Don’t forget to join the “St. Louis Sucks” facebook group

The KC Star has a nice write-up about the fire that happened in Waldo a few days back. Still no word on what exactly caused the blaze, but they suspect it started at Kennedy’s, and spread from there.

It’s a sad loss for KC, but the lost businesses are already relocating as Frankly Basic hopes to be opening at a new, unknown location in a couple weeks. (KC Star)

Koenig already is shopping for a new location with the goal of reopening in the next two weeks. His next stop was to buy a computer with the same software he had in the store. He asked investigators whether they could recover the hard drive on the store’s computer. They said they would try.