TKC EXCLUSIVE!!! KANSAS CITY BLAME GAME!!! TOP 5 REASONS HIGHWOODS SELLING SLUMPING COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA!!!
Our KICK-ASS TKC BLOG community has been 1ST and FEARLESS whilst reporting reality of the demise of the Country Club Plaza.
No matter how civic cheerleaders might spin it, the impeding Plaza selloff is not a win and represents a stunning disinvestment from what many consider the crown jewel of Kansas City.
To wit . . .
CHECK THE TOP 5 KANSAS CITY REASONS FOR THE TRAGIC HIGHWOODS PROPERTIES COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA SELLOUT!!!
Here we go . . .
City Hall Plaza Plan Probably Chased Highwoods Out Of Kansas City
It seems that a snoozy piece from The Pitch was actually quite brilliant in predicting a Kansas City real estate slapfight . . . We won't bore you with deets of the Plaza plan and its proposed crackdowns . . . However, most professional working in this town know . . .
CITY HALL MAKES KANSAS CITY A HORRIBLE PLACE TO DO BUSINESS!!! AND MAYOR SLY'S BULLY TACTICS RESONATE THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING!!!
This is a slap in the face to the City Plan Commission, Mayor Sly's Administration and the impending sellout is something that will dramatically alter the property values of of Midtown KC.
Internets Shopping Better Than The Plaza
Reality check . . . Shopping online is much nicer than parking in a dangerous cave where you might get stabbed, enduring aggressive hobos and dealing with bored clerks. The rise of the Internets has a lot to do with The Plaza becoming a 2nd rate retail destination.
Violent Teen Flash Mob Trend And Bad Parents Destroyed The Plaza???
Make no mistake . . . Perception is reality and despite a great deal of progress thanks to an overwhelming police presence . . . Violent teen flash mobs did more damage to the reputation of the Plaza than any other trend in a generation.
Protesters Don't Pay For Kansas City Country Club Plaza!!!
The location is convenient and makes for good photography . . . Every cause from liberal to conservative has taken to the Plaza as a de facto free speech zone. The protesters aren't buying stuff or shopping afterwards . . . Instead, it's more likely that they turn a lot of people away.
Litany Of Generic Offerings Makes The Country Club Plaza No Place Special
Plaza owners also need to take some blame here . . . Most of the offerings are easily attainable anywhere else. There isn't much unique on The Plaza anymore and high rents along with bad management helped this happen over the years.
Still . . .
LIKE IT OR NOT THE DEMISE OF THE PLAZA AS A KANSAS CITY DESTINATION TOOK PLACE ON MAYOR SLY'S WATCH!!!
The future of the district seems more like a biz park surrounded by corporate lawyers . . . The very same kind who have tirelessly supported this increasingly unpopular politico.
You decide . . .
I think the movie theater deserves an honorable mention here.
ReplyDeleteIf the movie theater didn't change their admission policy a lot of the teen mob trouble could've been avoided.
That was the tipping point and the mayor couldn't win a negotiation.
The rumor of the plaza's death has been greatly exaggerated
ReplyDeleteI blame the schools.
ReplyDeleteI blame the east side for voting down the toy choo choo extension leaving absolutely no public transit to the Plaza. They should lose their new MAX as punishment.
ReplyDeleteJust for the record, I have protested on the plaza for conservative causes and I always drink at Tomfooleries afterward.
ReplyDeleteTony I think Highwoods just sees a poor future for KCMO. Between crime and financial mismanagement the city could become the next Detroit. I doubt any real estate firms prospered in the last decade in Detroit. Better to take your money and invest in a city with a more potential. This should be a wake up call for the politicians and the business community who have screwed this city.
ReplyDeleteUm ... ... could the Bezillions of tax dollars poured into P&L competitors have something to do with it? (Hint: Yes)
ReplyDeleteYuppies (yes, they still exist) are being lured downtown, and they move as a herd.
Also, the "cool" restaurants are in the Crossroads, mostly, or even what's left of Westport. What's local and exciting in The Plaza (and not THAT kind of exciting, Zocalo)?
The last straw is surely the lawyers and actuaries, who have no soul, no heart, no lives beyond the billable hour.
Okay, the fear of being trampled by a mob figures in there, too.
It's true. I avoid the Plaza after dark now. There are so many other options to finding yourself in the middle of trouble, Why risk it? Strike another one up to political correctness. Respond to the behavior no matter what color the person is. My kids grew up in the suburbs and they didn't have any more weekend night options for entertainment than urban kids have. School activities, movies, friends houses and such. Creating a mob and destroying peoples property or harming them was not an option. What do people think working people do differently besides parent and set standards of behavior? What is it you think we have for kids to do that they don't have? I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't just the Plaza. It's the whole freaking town. It has been years since I could take friends or visitors into KC proper without my first consideration being if the destination would be a safe place. I have watched as downtown has turned into a breeding ground for thugery. The Northland used to be a great alternative, but now look at what is happening. I still manage to loop around the outskirts of KC to get to shopping in Johnson County or to take a weekend trip, but frankly KC has become the kind of place I just prefer to avoid in general. There is little I can't find elsewhere, with less expense and much lest risk. I get tired of loading my gun and putting it in the car everytime I am going to be passing through the city.
ReplyDeleteThe police department leadership is completely ineffective with no real plan to reduce or deter criminal activity. The entire exercise is about the chief chumming it up with local activist and political groups that have no real effect on anything related to crime. At best they can all whine together, but no real action.
The mayor is as full of shit as they come. Doing nothing to improve inner city infrastructure or clean up neighborhoods. His primary existence seems to have been about competing with his city full of thugs by creating more amusement and tourist projects. There is absolutely nothing in our history to indicate that these pet projects will result in any degree of success. The fact is what makes KC a great town is the burbs. The core is as rotten as it gets and I don't see anyone in this town with the knowledge or experience to fix the ills. Sorry folks, but in my perspective it is too late to save the city. I just hope we can stop the disease from permeating the surrounding areas.
you guys don't have much of a grasp of anything do you? With the exception of the whole nigger thing, nice work there.
ReplyDeleteReasons they are selling: #1 thru #5
ReplyDeleteNIGGERS !!!!
Rise of the Internet.
ReplyDeleteLOL whatever ya say champ. How's your gross income doing?
Stay stupid!
At the risk of interjecting a few facts:
ReplyDeleteFirst, there is no reason to feel unsafe on the Plaza. Violence can occur anywhere -- even in Johnson County parking lots in broad daylight. My wife and I have absolutely no qualms about walking about after dark. (Of course, we do not see every black teenager as Willie Horton, either.)
The Plaza has NEVER been a good match for Highwoods, which is primarily an office-park developer. They were always uncomfortable with the retail/office/residential balance of the area. (At one point, their second-largest retail development -- after the Plaza -- was about the square footage of a small McMansion -- 3900 sq. ft.) They drove out locally-owned businesses because they has little ability and less interest in managing retail spaces. In fact, the guy they first put in charge at the home office was unaware that the Plaza was not an enclosed mall!
The Plaza deserves better.
12:08 very true. Great comment. I would propose another problem with the Plaza is the "Friends of the Plaza", who don't even live in the Plaza.
ReplyDeleteAsk some of the tenants in the Winston Churchill Condominiums how they feel about "Friends of the Plaza" and you will hear from many that they aren't "friends" at all.
I don't know if it would be possible, because of the water mains and sewer mains, but the new owners should approach the city about making the Plaza entirely private, roads and all. I know many other residents that would vote in favor of creating a tax district and paying the city to sell their remaining assets in the area, and make the whole area entirely private.
Last person at the plaza, please turn off the lights.
ReplyDeleteThe Plaza has already identified potential buyers. Leading the way is "Trump Properties" and supposedly there will be a wall involved.
ReplyDeleteLOL -- I remember when the "Plaahza" was the province of snooty rich WASPs and jews, who looked down on working-class White kids trying to impress their girlfriends with at a nite in the fancy restaurants and bars.
ReplyDeleteseems like they have more serious concerns these days -- LOL!
The WASPS and the Hymies ditched the Plaza years ago.
ReplyDeleteThey hang out at Leawood South now.
Used it and ditched it. Their usual M.O.
If the security by Chesley Brown did the job they were suppose to do and be more proactive in their policing it might have quite an impact. But you combine horrible security management with low paid under qualified security guards and of course your going to have crap security to protect the "crown jewel." It's a case of put the blinders on and smoking mirrors down there. Chesley Brown definitely 2 thumbs down.
ReplyDeleteGlenn Stevenson should have spend more time managing the Plaza and less time fucking skank ho's at Touche's.
ReplyDeleteSkank fucking always comes back to haunt you.
I've lived in Miami, Baltimore, and St. Louis and I will say that the plaza is a unique place that most large cities don't currently have. Regardless of its problems, the plaza will survive.
ReplyDeleteWell, Hell yes, NIGGERS killed the Plaza, just like Bannister Mall, etc. There's no magic here, just the end result of a NIGGER infestation. Happens all the time...
ReplyDeleteThe problem is there's too much to do do in Kansas City. For the parents that is. I grew up Ina small town with a one room movie theatre and a handful of restaurants mostly fast food. No internet at that time or 300+ cable channels. There were no major sporting events, nightclubs, concerts, shopping, party districts, or art fairs going on. Parents didn't have anything else to do but sit home and watch their damn kids!
ReplyDelete