Troost developments

[FangKC]

North High Street in Columbus, Ohio, reminds me what Troost could become.

There is some momentum with Beacon Hill development on Troost from 24th to 27th streets. New houses priced over $400,000 are being constructed, and there are also the new UMKC student apartments there. I would think eventually that building on the SW corner of 27th and Troost will get restored with some type of restaurant/bar in it. Truman Medical Center is working on getting a grocery store built near 27th and Troost.

http://tinyurl.com/op2tdd4

There is also the Bancroft School redevelopment by Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation at 43rd and Tracy. The school has been turned into apartments, and new townhouses built on the property. The MIR Foundation is also planning to do some vacant house renovations, and new single family house construction, in that neighborhood.

I agree that there needs to be some focus by the City to bring in two or three different developers to build some new apartments on vacant lots along Troost. That would help attract retail back, and some of the empty commercial buildings would get renovated. There is a stretch between 27th and 31st streets where there are several large surface parking lots that need to have infill on them. I think the Nazarene Publishing House owns some of them. There is also that green space/pseudo park north of the Nazarene Publishing House on the east side of Troost that is going to waste. The block between 31st and Linwood is ideally-suited as a retail node, and the buildings are in pretty good shape overall. The City has invested in that block by rebuilding the sidewalks and doing landscaping. But for that retail node to be reborn, there needs to be repopulation via new apartment construction.

The City needs to try and make Troost a more walkable street by doing infill development so that there aren't such large gaps between buildings. Apartment building infill would do that.

There was an editorial 11 years ago in the Business Journal of Kansas City advocating making Hospital Hill a bio-research hub, which I think is a good idea. However, nothing has come of it. I think if the City could link Rockhurst, UMKC on the Plaza, UMKC/TMC/Children's Mercy-Hospital Hill and Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences via the Troost corridor using state and local incentives, it could totally change Troost into a viable corridor again. Many of the older retail buildings along Troost would also be eligible for historic tax credits. With most of the historic buildings downtown already being renovated, the focus of using historic tax credits should move to the Troost corridor. I think that should be the focus of that tool in the City next. UMKC could really help Troost if it focused its' campus expansion plans north on Troost.

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/s ... rial1.html

The focus should be between 27th Street south to Cleaver Boulevard. This type of redevelopment is what Tax-Increment Financing was originally created to do.

[FangKC]

Loftguy, I would be interested to hear what your thoughts are on the redevelopment of the Troost corridor.

[TheBigChuckbowski]

http://metrowiremedia.com/bringing-inve ... aires-row/

Once a gem of the city, the area stands as another example of disrepair and neglect in Kansas City’s urban core. But Clemons Real Estate is hoping to breathe new life into what it’s calling the “Legacy Crossing” district with a rather daunting assignment: to sell or lease a portfolio of several historic buildings to entrepreneurs and small businesses in hopes of sparking a revitalization of the neighborhood.
Audrey Navarro is managing partner of Clemons Real Estate, a family business she's grown into a full service brokerage and property management company specializing in historic properties in midtown Kansas City.

“We want to create opportunities for local businesses to be urban pioneers,” said Audrey Navarro, managing partner of Clemons. “Our goal is to kickstart growth and economic development in the area, and be a catalyst for positive, lasting change.”

[Cheffreygo]

Not sure if this has been mentioned here or not, but I heard from a good source today (who told me "It wasn't me who told you this, but...") that apparently MAC Properties now owns all four corners of Armour & Troost. That seems like extremely good news.

[Eon Blue]

The city parcel viewer says the SW corner lots between Troost & Harrison are owned by an LLC with the same NJ address as other MAC properties (32 N DEAN ST 2ND FLR ENGLEWOOD, NJ) along with the next one to the south (3516 Troost). The SE corner is shown as owned by the PIEA, so a title change wouldn't be too painful.

[KCtoBrooklyn]

This was discussed here:
http://kcrag.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=16557&start=260

Unless there was some drastic change in the last 10 days, MAC only owns the southern corners and is attempting to acquire the norther corners, along with the vacant hotel to the east of the SE corner through condemnation.

I'm not sure why your source made it seem like this is hush-hush. It seems like MAC is trying to get the word out via neighborhood groups to start ginning up public support in advance of an expected battle over the condemnation.

[Cheffreygo]

He did specifically say all four corners and implied that that if it's not already a done deal, it would be very soon. He is very connected with local development and is behind some of the non-MAC developments on Armour, so hopefully he's right!

[chaglang]

KCtoBrooklyn's description on the other thread is accurate.

[FangKC]

Groundbreaking on the Rosehill Townhomes at Admiral and Troost today.

http://tinyurl.com/okbr8a5

https://www.facebook.com/Theartsasylum/ ... =3&theater

[Eon Blue]

I've been by there a couple times and work has been underway for a couple weeks. They have been building a retaining wall along the Admiral side of the lot, so I am guessing that the structures will face Troost. Hopefully Admiral isn't completely ignored by the development. Has anyone seen a site plan or renderings of the project?

[loftguy]

As this is housing for the disadvantaged, you should anticipate that there is not much fat on this project.

I got a glimpse at the plan a few months ago, and it is more attractive and un-institutional than most any I have seen. Especially in KC.

I hope they can protect the level of community friendly design and humane detail through the construction process.

[FangKC]

This was posted on the Old Northeast Facebook page. It's a scan of a printed document, and I can't find an online version. It shows the Rosehill Townhomes at Troost and Admiral.



I found this image linked to a KC Star article.

[DaveKCMO]

that's quite a setback!

[mgh7676]

A couple things from yesterday's CPC Docket:

Case No. 675-S-6 – To consider a request to amend the Greater Downtown Area Plan by changing the recommended land use on about 1.5 acres generally located east of Troost Avenue, north of E 24th Street and south of Bruce R. Watkins Drive, from Residential Low Density and Residential Medium Density to Downtown Residential. (Continued from 12-1-15 – No Testimony)
Applicant: Sunflower Development Group repr Taliaferro & Browne, Inc.

Case No. 12708-UR-3 -- About 94 acres generally bounded by 22nd Street on the north, Bruce R. Watkins Drive and The Paseo on the east, 27th Street and about 100 feet south of 27th Street at Troost Avenue on the south and Troost Avenue and about 150 feet west of Troost Avenue at 27th Street on the west -- to consider the approval of a development plan amendment in District UR (Urban redevelopment district) relating to the specific land use on about 1.5 acres generally located east of Troost Avenue and north of E 24th Street and south of Bruce R. Watkins Drive to allow for a hotel and further to add single family homes in lieu of townhomes in select locations. (Continued from 12-1-15 – No Testimony)
Applicant: Sunflower Development Group repr Taliaferro & Browne, Inc.

[pash]

.

[FangKC]

This appears to be the site proposed for a possible hotel development.

[Eon Blue]

That is correct.

[WinchesterMysteryHouse]

I imagine Troost is one of those streets where you just need that tipping point of one place that is noticeably more upscale than what's there today.

Imagine if something like a Panera decided to build on Troost near Hospital Hill what that would mean psychologically to people.

I've been ruminating on the lengths society goes to in order to comfort white folks, and this statement is along those lines.

[flyingember]

I imagine Troost is one of those streets where you just need that tipping point of one place that is noticeably more upscale than what's there today.

Imagine if something like a Panera decided to build on Troost near Hospital Hill what that would mean psychologically to people.

I've been ruminating on the lengths society goes to in order to comfort white folks, and this statement is along those lines.

Wow, you couldn't get more purposefully racist than that, could you? Why does an upscale business instantly mean "white?"

Let's use a part of town that looks a lot like segments of Troost, though not for as long. N. Oak from 32nd to I-29.

NKC HS is 50% white these days. And there was no forced school integration to get there or bussing from the city. The area has a crazy wide income range too, it serves kids in $500k+ homes and $25k homes. There's plenty of empty, unmaintained commercial lots in the area and rundown empty buildings. My rough guess is 25% of the corridor is abandoned.

You can easily extend this thought south into NKC on Burlington or north to Gladstone and get the same feel and similar demographics ranges and see lots of rundown retail, though that one ~12 block segment has the most extremes.

Are we just trying to make white people feel welcome to make sure that absentee landlords don't let their lots get overgrown or buildings fall down in a part of town minorities want to move to?

So why would you say Troost is this way?

[FangKC]

New townhomes will be built for resettling homeless families at Troost and Admiral. The Housing Authority and Project ReStart are partners in the plan--called Rosehill Townhomes. The plan describes quality market-rate housing similar to that on Quality Hill.

The Business Journal of Kansas City link:

http://tinyurl.com/mkea4bl

http://www.kansascity.com/news/governme ... 13214.html

The Rose Hill townhomes will provide 33 affordable units in two three-story buildings on the southeast corner of Admiral and Troost. The units are designed for adult couples or at least one adult with a child or children.

The site:

http://tinyurl.com/oz2fjcc

Aerial view:

http://tinyurl.com/ovhbxwj

The construction has begun on these townhomes.