Promenade Tower Development

[macnw]

You knew it would not take too long until the next battle of words started, no offense to anyone.

[Midtownkid]

Well i guess its better than what is there now,  but you have to admit it is pretty uninspired

[kard]

Yeah.  That's kinda boring.  I think there's a field in Corporate Woods that wants its building back. 

[JDluu]

I agree that the design is bland and possibly substandard, but have you guys been around that block on foot? Currently the Main street side is just a solid garage and combined with the american century building it turns the walk from 45th to 46th into a canyon - the bad kind. Hopefully the retail/grocery store will break it up a bit. The 45th and walnut sides have a deep setback that is filled in with a couple of rows of deteriorating surface parking and further south on 45th, there is another surface lot behind the homestead suites and a vacant, scubby parcel. It looks like they may have some kind of entrance on walnut. This is at least a small step in the right direction.

[lock+load]

This is at least a small step in the right direction.

For tax breaks and a block sized building, shouldn't we expect a little more than one small step?

[moderne]

For those who do not know the history, the current building was the Plaza Hilton Inn and was the very first hotel ever serving the Plaza.  For many years the Kona Kai was one of the most popular restaurants in town, back when Asian food of any kind was exotic.

[Stockton]

It doesn't look that terrible or out-of-place to me. Maybe the finished product will look better than the renderings depending on the details and materials used?

[moderne]

  To me the massing is all wrong.  Needs to be broken up, not necessarily to the extent of the West Edge, but similar.  Look up the hill from the southeast where you can see the Safdie designed Atriums, and the residential called the Montreaux(or named something similar, I am not sure).  It gives a very village on a hill perspective.  Something a bit more broken, detailed and delicate would work.

[ShowMeKC]

This isn't out of place, and is better than the Plaza Colonnade design, as well as One Main Plaza.

[moderne]

Compared to this, Colonnade is sensitive to its surroundingboth in materials and articulation.

[ShowMeKC]

How is this very much different? The entire space doesn't have to be consumed by the tower. Much of that area is going to be covered with a 1-4 story buildings, plus a potential sculpture park.

No city should become a canyon with only skyscrapers. A city needs a variety of buildings, short and tall. There isn't anything wrong with building a tower on top of a short structure, and not using up the entire space with the tower.

[moderne]

  Please read my criticisms again.  Then read a little (and look) about the design principles espoused by the Taliesen master of your avatar.

[ShowMeKC]

I favor Jane Jacobs more than Frank Gehry, he understood architecture, she understood cities and urban planning. Frank Gehry didn't really understand urban planning and cities.

[KansasCityChiefs]

Call me crazy, but I like this project.

[trailerkid]

A suburban office park block of a building.  Not worthy of the prominent site overlooking the Plaza and Museum district.

This is a good project, but the architectural vision is surely lacking. That's what you get for bringing in DLR-- don't they mostly design middle schools? There's no way W/aloft would attach their brand to something that looks like belongs next to a Plano freeway.

[Tosspot]

I could deal with the high-rise portion, but the single story thing to the right in the rendering is hideous and antithetical to the area.

[trailerkid]

I could deal with the high-rise portion, but the single story thing to the right in the rendering is hideous and antithetical to the area.

I agree it doesn't look good, but that part is the street level grocery store. "The area" is a massive 6 lane road with a smattering of this and that at every corner.

[ignatius]

The project has a new developer.  Unfortunately they will likely drop the market.
http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/177386.html

Email Chris Noon, the new developer and ask them to keep the grocery store in the project.  The Plaza needs a market.

cnoon@quadrangle.us

[KCMax]

The project has a new developer.  Unfortunately they will likely drop the market.

Boooo. That area seems to begging for more grocery options.

[chrizow]

this is not difficult.

Trader.  Fucking.  Joe's.

grrrr. 

grocery or no grocery, this will be a great project.  the developer says he isn't going to break ground "for a long time."  i wonder what a "long time" is in developer-land, since large projects take years anyway.  hopefully we'll see this puppy go up within my lifetime!