Affordable Kansas City

[EdMc]

June, 2019. Over time, this photographic thread has been pushed down to the third page and further out-of-sight under General Architecture & Urban Planning. Therefore, I’ve extended the number of photographs to 292 for my own viewing pleasure. If you enjoy city pictures of architecture, people and objects of design and interest, I hope you enjoy the look of Kansas City as much as I do. EdMc

Kansas City Business Journal, May 17, 2017
U-Haul released its annual Top 10 U.S. Destination City list, and Kansas City ranked No. 9, based on the number of
arriving one-way U-Haul truck rentals in 2016.

In a release, Aaron Krueger, the southern Kansas president for U-Haul, credited Kansas City's growing IT industry that includes
major companies such as Sprint Corp. and Garmin International Inc. and also startups such as ShotTracker and EyeVerify.

Kansas City Business Journal
“Kotkin: KC is part of a booming Midwest”
April 30, 2018

Kansas City and its Midwestern sister cities may not have oceans, but they offer something else for millenials — a realistic shot at owning a home. That’s one big reason why development trends expert Joel Kotkin says the Midwest is booming.
The average millenial would have to work 28 years to earn enough for a downpayment on a house in San Francisco, compared with three in Kansas City, Kotkin writes in The Daily Beast. He sees a shift in momentum, with growth shifting away from the big coastal cities and to places like Kansas City, Des Moines, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Columbus.
Kotkin, who spoke about the area’s draw at the Kansas City Area Development Council’s 2016 annual meeting, notes that business service employment in Kansas City has grown 15.7 percent in the past three years —faster than San Francisco or New York, and six times faster than than Chicago.

Opened March, 2017

http://www.apartmentguide.com/apartments/Missouri/Kansas-City/One-Light-Luxury-Apartments/100022817/

Kansas City Business Journal, June 6, 2017

One Light, the Cordish Cos.' 307-unit luxury apartment tower in Kansas City's Power & Light District, has been selected as a finalist in the Urban Land Institute's 2017 Global Awards for Excellence program.

The program honors private, public and nonprofit development projects that achieve the highest standard of excellence in innovative design, construction, economics, planning and management. Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. has been awarded an unprecedented seven ULI Awards for Excellence, more than any other developer in the world.

"We are incredibly honored that One Light Luxury Apartments was selected as a finalist this year for the ULI Global Awards for Excellence," Blake Cordish, vice president of The Cordish Cos., said in the release. "The ULI Global Awards for Excellence is the most prestigious awards program in urban development and most importantly recognizes projects that make an impact on the communities they are in. We are proud to have played a pivotal role in the renaissance of downtown Kansas City with the Power & Light District and now with One Light Luxury Apartments."

Kansas City Business Journal, August 4, 2017

"Two Light, which is scheduled to open in June 2018, is achieving leasing success despite a top-of-market average lease rate of $2.30 a square foot — considerably higher than the $1.85-a-foot rate that the 25-story One Light tower opened with in December 2015."

“Since the One Light groundbreaking, the downtown population has grown from 21,000 to 26,000, and we are rapidly on our way to 33,000 by the end of 2019."

"Bill Dietrich, CEO of the Downtown Council of Kansas City, said that, to be precise, Kansas City now has the sixth-fastest-growing downtown in America."

"Besides its 296 units, the 500,000-square-foot tower will include a 438-space garage, 15,000 square feet of office space, and 3,100 square feet of boutique retail and dining spaces. Its 15,000-square-foot eighth-floor amenity deck will include a floating sundeck overlooking 14th Street where tenants will be able to sip signature cocktails from a full-service bar."

cityscenekc.com, April 24, 2018
Two Light opens May 4, 2018
Monthly rents start at $1,265 for a 591 square-foot one-bedroom. Other one bedroom units range in size from 739- to 759 square feet, with rents from $1,565 to $1,675.
Two-bedrooms range from 1,098- to 1,146 square feet with rents from $2,485 to $2,630. Many of the floor plans offer outdoor spaces, at a higher price, ranging from narrow ‘Juliet’ balconies to terraces.

Kansas City Star, July 21, 2017
"Pickwick Plaza shines in $65 million renovation in downtown Kansas City"

"The ambitious rehabilitation includes 260 apartment units, ranging from studios at $750 a month to two-bedrooms at $2,000. Tenants have access to a health club, an indoor pool, attached parking garage, a private event space, an opulent lobby and certain delivery services."
"The massive project includes two apartment towers that sandwich a former bus terminal. The seven-story north tower opened to tenants last year; the 11-story south tower opened this spring."

Kansas City Business Journal, July 31, 2017
Built in 1929, 1930.
Property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, making it eligible for historic tax credits, “a poster child for why historic tax credits need to be preserved in Missouri.”
"Although the project was completed only recently, two-thirds of its apartment units were leased before the grand opening — a testament to the accuracy of developer Tom Smith’s belief that smaller, more affordable apartments combined with a rich amenity package would be a hit with young professionals."

City Hall

Federal Courthouse

The Kansas City Star, January 26, 2017
The streetcar started running May 6, 2016 from the River Market to Union Station. This past fall, KC BizCare and the Downtown Council partnered with the Streetcar Authority to survey retailers right along the route that had endured the long construction schedule.

Among the highlights:
▪ 97 percent said the streetcar has had a positive impact.
▪ 80 percent cited a positive revenue change, with 40 percent citing a moderate income increase and 40 percent citing a more significant uptick.
▪ 83 percent also saw a positive increase in foot traffic. The impact was most profound over the lunch hour and on Fridays and Saturdays, with some increase on Sundays as well.

The KC Streetcar is free of charge.

Progressive Railroading 7/16/2018
Kansas City Streetcar reports ridership records

The Kansas City Streetcar earlier this month logged its highest weekly ridership to date.

During the week of July 2-8, the streetcar served 78,998 riders, a new high-water mark for the 2-mile system. In addition, the KC Streetcar on July 6 provided 19,181 rides, marking the system's highest daily ridership.

"Our service is consistently carrying thousands of passengers a day and has helped redefine the downtown Kansas City experience for residents, employees and visitors," said Tom Gerend, executive director of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority (KCSA), in a press release.

KC calls itself the, "City of Fountains"

Wonderful Union Station

Planetarium entrance at Union Station (station has a Science City, also)

postal boxes

Planetarium outside

Union Station play area with climbing petals, zip lines

KC is a busy railroad hub

Legends Outlets stores, restaurants and cinema are very popular, especially on weekends.
Adjacent Kansas Speedway, soccer stadium and small minor league baseball stadium bring crowds.

Zona Rosa mixed-use development store

Referenced in a 1959 Billboard #1 song by Wilbert Harrison, “Kansas City”
“I'm gonna be standing on the corner

Twelfth Street and Vine”

Jazz district, includes the American Jazz Museum and the museum’s working jazz club, The Blue Room

Gem performing arts center hosts annual "Jammin' at the Gem" jazz masters' concert series

River Market neighborhood

City Market is crowded on Saturday

TripAdvisor, April 29, 2017
Cosentino's Market and Deli (downtown on free streetcar line), #7 of 1,137 restaurants in Kansas City. Sandwiches, salads, desserts, hot food bar,
attractive table area with floor-to-ceiling window seating. Can't walk in and out of here without getting a bite to eat.

KC is known for barbecue

Watch Party for July 7, 2019 championship game of World Women’s Cup soccer.

Kansas City Royals were 2015 World Series Champions

Grand Avenue on a Sunday morning

Westin Crown Center

Liberty Memorial
Recognized by Congress as the "National World War I Museum and Memorial"
TripAdvisor's #1 attraction in Kansas City

You've heard of Emmy, Tony, Oscar and Grammy? This location receives my Gus Award, Great Urban Setting. A special environment, it makes me want to stay awhile.

Red poppies have symbolized the First World War since the poem “In Flanders fields the poppies blow …” was published in 1918. - Kansas City Star

Convention Center

garage

This man wrote about a guy named Huckleberry Finn

Sprint Center

Sporting Kansas City is a Major League Soccer Club

Kansas City Business Journal July 28, 2016
House Beautiful magazine compiled a list of "The Most Beautiful Places in all 50 states," and the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts took the top spot for Missouri. The venue also received accolades in 2014, landing on a list of the 15 "most beautiful" concert halls in the world, according to building data company Emporis.

Architecture can be sublime, a salute to the Kauffman

Doc Severinson, former Tonight Show bandleader, 90th birthday, July 7, 2017

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has free admission

First Friday art walk

A special place because of architecture, Country Club Plaza

The very, very popular Plaza Art Fair is held every September

Sidenote on affordability,

Kansas City Business Journal, June 1, 2017

"Blue Springs is on a roll. For a second consecutive year, it has ranked No. 1 in the U.S. as the best place for families to live. And recently, its high school also ranked among the best nationwide in U.S. News & World Report's ranking of 22,000 schools.
HomeUnion, an online real estate investment management firm, ranked the 30 best places for families to live, based on housing affordability and school quality. According to HomeUnion, Blue Springs' median home price is $159,700."

Blue Springs, Missouri is about 18 miles east of Kansas City, just south of I-70.

Sidenote on Kansas City architects,

The Architect’s Newspaper, July 10, 2018
“Spotlight on Kansas City, home to world-class architects and designers”

“Located squarely in the middle of the U.S., Kansas City is about as far from an international border as a place can get, yet the architectural output of this little city punches above its weight.”

https://archpaper.com/2018/07/kansas-city-facades-plus-am/

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Well that's a really pretty city. I love that WW1 memorial, so stark. What were you in town for, Taylor Swift?

 

[EdMc]

Haha, I like Taylor's red lips but I prefer other singers. I was highlighting the attractive Sprint Center in downtown KC and included the sign to add interest to the photograph.

Side note, I saw a performance of a talented male singer (not famous) at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts two months after it opened in 2011 (the double shell in the pictures). The performer marveled over the concert hall and then paused and snapped his fingers. I was sitting in the mezzanine section just below the upper seats and could clearly hear the snap. Perhaps the best of concert halls have similar acoustics, but, I was astonished. For him to snap his fingers was making a point. The Kauffman is a fabulous blend of music and architecture. I was in one of my elements!

 

[statler]

I don't get the symbolism of the Spinx on the WWI monument. I like it, I just don't get it.

 

[EdMc]

Here's an explanation, statler:

http://www.ahr-kc.com/reports/liberty_memorial/

Two colossal Egyptian sphinx-like sculptures, shrouded by their wings, guard the south entrance to the Memorial Court. They were placed on the Memorial Court in September 1925. Measuring 32' x 15' x 15' and weighing 615 tons each, these immense limestone statues "prepare visitors for the spirit and mood of the shrine of sacrifice." [9] "Memory" located on the southwest side of the court hides its head to forget the pain and suffering of war. The figure faces east toward Flanders Field, the seat of war. On the southeast side, "Future" covers its head to attest to the skepticism of things to come and faces west where "the course of Empire takes its way." "Future" is the sphinx in the photograph with the woman running.

 

[statler]

Cool, thanks!

 

[Suffolk 83]

1300-1600 for a 1 bed DOWNTOWN!?! In a new building! WOW. I know Boston is expensive but damn how much do people make there? Cant be much

 

[datadyne007]

1300-1600 for a 1 bed DOWNTOWN!?! In a new building! WOW. I know Boston is expensive but damn how much do people make there? Cant be much

The cost of living is considerably lower, with housing being HALF of the cost of Boston.

$100k salary in Boston:

Comparable salary in
Kansas City, MO-KS
$72,687

Price difference in Kansas City, MO-KS
Groceries 12%less
Housing 47%less
Utilities 21%less
Transportation 9%less
Health Care 17%less

http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

Btw EdMc, thank you very much for this. This is a fantastic photo essay. Love that Sporting KC mural and those sexy light rail stations.

 

[EdMc]

Thanks, dd007, good additional information from you.

Sporting KC has a recently built stadium nestled in the Legends Outlets area.

Love the blue of the streetcar station, too. Track runs 2.2 miles from City Market through downtown to Union Station. Operation commences next year. Downtown residents voted to tax themselves to partially fund the streetcar.

The residential occupancy rate in the Central Business district is about 98%, all recent housing is from rehab of older buildings. With the success of One Light, Two Light is supposed to be under construction next year, with Three Light and Four Light under consideration. All are in the Power and Light District, only blocks from I-70 and I-670.

 

[datadyne007]

Sporting KC has a recently built stadium nestled in the Legends Outlets area.

Yeah, Sporting Park is gorgeous, but quite far flung from the CBD. It's still accessible via an hour long #101 bus ride though which makes it better than our situation.

 

[393b40]

What's the streetscape like in KC? I assume not as active as Boston's. Is it active or mostly dead? Bars and restaurants to Wallgreens and Bank of America galore?

 

[EdMc]

Not in town on weekdays or nights, CBD streets on weekends have few people except KC Live, the pavilion with the orange-framed canopy, is sometimes packed for Missouri and Kansas football games, the World Cup when the U.S. is represented and First Friday's. Any event in the Sprint Center may have people overflowing into KC Live, part of the Power and Light District. The baseball Royals in the playoffs should draw a crowd. KC Live has an outdoor screen, although, I've seen bigger ones. The Power and Light District is mostly entertainment, so, it has many bars and restaurants and it is an attractive, clean area. City Market on Saturday morning bounces.

KC has many empty parcels that need development and I think several streets need more green vegetation. It's not as dynamic as Boston but then it doesn't have some of the high anxiety, either. I find it to be a pleasant city to walk with easily navigable hills.

 

[FK4]

Really cool set from a city I know little about... all those lower midwest cities are places I always think about just flying to for a weekend just to see what theyre like... KC holds much more of a place in the old-time American ethos than some of the others, but I had a friend who just went to Omaha and said there were some interesting places there, too. I've also heard Des Moines is a cool place. Very comprehensive photo set, thanks for posting.

 

[EdMc]

Thanks, I can find something to like about all of our American cities. I scan Business Journal, Biznow and The Architect's Newspaper periodically to keep up on developments in our other cities. Boston isn't the only American city experiencing rapid growth. What Denver and Los Angeles have done building their transportation systems is remarkable. Boston can do the same with a will, cooperation, and an acceptance to spend money as these cities have. Nice things don't come free or with tax cuts.

 

[HalcyonEra]

Great compilation, EdMc, the city of fountains...

I absolutely love the Western Auto sign. I remember seeing it illuminated sometime back in the late 80's - early 90's before the brand was retired. As I understand it, that is now a residential building? I really hope that the plan is to keep it - it's a fantastic piece of nostalgia which I think is important to preserve where and when it can be.

 

[EdMc]

Thanks, it is a residential building now and I don't think the sign is going anywhere. Of course, it's really special when lit at night. I have an affinity for special signs such as the Western Auto sign. It's why I like thumbing through old Route 66 pictures. I have a nostalgic pull for yesteryear Americana.