The Line Creek Loudmouth

Latest Metro North Mall Plan Change

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say right?  I mean I should be able to say something about the Metro North Mall redo with it's lucrative TIF financing package but I don't.  I mean I look around at floundering or ho hum retail developments all over and wonder why we keep doing what we've been doing when the market wants residences and employment integrated with it. 

Metro North posts were such a big hit when I started this blog that I created its own tag to make all the posts easy to find.  The lack of progress has bored me so I haven't bothered giving time to writing about the many plan changes since the TIF plan was approved because I didn't think the redevelopment had any viability.   It's just a monument to asphalt parking lots and cheap retail property.

There is a development plan that I think is a step in the right direction that was recently approved by KCMO on the old movie theater site (away and separated by a massive road and parking lots from the retail).  It's the dark green area in the map below.  All these renderings were pulled from the attachments for KCMO Ordinance 200369.

One thing to note is the plan and map show a future street connection over US 169 which is not feasible from an engineering perspective.  How do I know that?  Well I did a rough design of it and it won't work with the golf facility built as it was.  Someday maybe there will be a trail crossing but it needs some money and apparently there wasn't enough money in the $71M TIF to help finish the Route  152 Trail over US 169 and make the center accessible by something other than car and connect Clay County to our awesome, connected Platte County trail system.  A trail overpass project has some federal money that would be leveraged and just needs some local funding.

Here's another site location rendering looking northwest.  There's that unbuildable car bridge again.

What's being proposed is a five story office building.  It's been rumored to be a possible location (along with a few other sites) for the relocation of the FBI building at Summit and 14th Street downtown.

I know you're here for my architecture review of the project but in this case the architect for the project used to live in the dorm room across the hall from me at the University of Illinois and could share some very hilarious and juvenile stories about the Loudmouth.  I'll just say that this is the best building I've ever seen designed and he should be hired to design all your buildings.  All other architecture is trash and you're just wasting your money if you hire anyone else. 

Below are renderings that show the height of the building compared to the golf nets.  Let me just say, I kind of wish it was taller.  Those golf nets have become the defacto skyline for the northland and it would be nice to have a building with vantage of the two county area.

This is a step in the right direction from a land use standpoint.  I just wish the powers that be would see the upside of developing a real mixed-used development with 5000+ permanent residents who could support the retail in the area.  If people aren't driving to Zona Rosa for the nuance and compactness and Barrytowne is across the highway with plenty of big box space, what makes anyone think that they'll come back to what basically is every other shopping redo in the area? 

That's the problem with approving private infrastructure only TIF's like this.  The Antioch and Bannister Mall sites sat for years with TIF plans in place but no incentive or timeline for the redeveloper to use them.  We're going into the latter half of this TIF's first decade with nothing but rubble and a golf place to show for it.  I guess I shouldn't be so pessimistic.  The leases at Zona and Tiffany Springs Marketcenter are now over 10 years old so I'm sure some of those tenants might find themselves a sweet deal to move to Metro and fill out the space.  In the meantime, Metro North Crossing is still a just another suburban big box/strip mall/parking lot monument and will continue to bore me.

Metro North Mall Redo Layout

I miss the old mall.  It was a long winter without a place to let the boys run around.  Anyways, we finally have a preliminary site layout.  The new mall plan is open air and not enclosed. 

The plan had a key which identified sizes and uses of each building.

 

 

I took more zoomed in screen shots to show the building letters.

One thing about this plan that is similar to the old mall is the acres of surface parking.  Unfortunately retailers are still stuck on parking minimums and the associated environmental impacts.  This site sits at the top of the Line Creek watershed and the new plan won't change the existing impacts of all the concrete and asphalt.  The plan still has the ATA park and ride in the far north part of the site.  It's that white triangle thing all by itself in the top middle part of the picture.

I don't know when anything will start nor if they've identified any tenants or the other anchor.  More might come out as the developer goes through the site plan approval process.  You can read more at the KC Biz Journal here.

I just hope when they start, they take care not to disturb the ghosts at the "haunted" Gash Cemetery.

Metro North Mosque Going Up?

I had to drop some glass off at the Northland recycling center north of the mall formerly known as Metro North and noticed some construction going on north of the old movie theater near NW 88th Street and Central.

View Larger Map  |  Get Directions  |  View Bird's Eye

I pulled building permit information from the KCMO permit system (try clicking here to see it and there was a building permit issued to the Islamic Center of Northland for a 3 story building.  The area is currently zoned R-7.5 which is some type of residential zoning.  Back in the mid-2000's someone was going to do a residential development and cleared the area but never finished the project.  I'm not sure if there was a special use permit or zoning action that would allow for a commercial building use and I've got dishes to do and laundry to fold so I didn't bother looking.

Here are a couple of screen shots from the permit.

This is looking northeast from the intersection of Central and NW 88th.

This is looking north from 88th Street.

The New Metro North Mall (Latest Rendition)

I got a sneak peek at some renderings for the new Metro North Mall recently.  Things are always subject to change but I will say that I liked the work of the architect they hired.  It wasn't one of the usual big city architects who design buildings that don't fit in with their surroundings, use chain link fence as art, or just plain pointless.

The layout of the mall was a curved designed radiating towards Barry Road and US 169.  The mall had exerior corridor ways to get to the enclosed part of the mall.  This would allow retailers to have both exterior and interior entrances which is important for customers (like me) who just shop for one thing and want it easily accesible.

I know the trend is against enclosed malls but given the fact that there are only about 12 weeks out of the year where it is actually pleasant to wander around shopping, I think there is a market here for "New Metro." 

Hopefully they get the tenants they want and get the deals signed to make the re-do happen.

In the meantime, the mall remains a great place to burn off kids energy when it's too hot or cold.  We've taken remote control cars to race around the mall, played super hide and seek, and had sprints up the "down" escalators.

I have heard that there has been some dude wading in the fountain that they've had to run off but the kids have a rule there.  Anything goes except you can't get wet in the fountain.

It would be a great place for a rock band to practice playing in large facilities.

 

Song credit to the Spencer Davis Group.

Editors note.  I fell in love with this song 20 years ago during my first summer working at the first ever "Rock and Roll Hardee's™" in Springfield, Illinois on Stevenson Drive.  I was one of the original crew members.  The franchisee took a regular Hardee's™ and made the interior an early 1950's art deco car hop with a big juke box.  The place would host Route 66 cruise events which were a big thing since US 66 was Stevenson Drive.  That summer is where I learned that sometimes in life you have a week of 14 hour days and have fun doing it.

The customers could play songs out of the juke box.  We had to sing certain songs like "You've lost that Loving Feeling," "Tequila," and "My Ding a Ling."  This song was the ultimate of the sing alongs.  When it got to the right point, only the kitchen could play along and we'd belt out a big "Hey" with the goal of trying to

The Mall Formerly Known As Metro North

I had that weird feeling the other day like I was the last person alive on earth when I tried taking a different way from the grabbing breakfast on my way to the US 169 project.  I took the back way behind Metro North Mall. 

 

Why is Metro North so desolate?  My simple explanation is this.  The Mall's owners have owned it and numerous other malls forever.  Since 1976, they were the only show in town.  In the meantime, all the real estate brokers (who all seem to live in JOCO) perceived the Northland as a bunch of Missouri goobers with no money (exhibit 1-see Line Creek Loudmouth).  Then some out of town folks realized that the demographics up north are actually pretty good.  These out of town developers started buying up property at Route 152 and I-35 and next thing you know, the KCMO side of the Shoal Creek Valley has everything. 

The folks in Platte County figured out a way to fund infrastructure improvements and next thing you know, we have everything.  Meanwhile, most retailers decided to take the two store approach and do stores along I-29 or I-35.  When new tenants looked to expand, the Mall's owners thought they were the only game in town and it appears didn't negotiate well enough to land those tenants. 

Hence, Metro is where it is today.  The demographics are still strong along the US 169 corridor to support more retail.  However when our local JOCO real estate folks still see corn and soybean fields when they drive up here, there is a perceived weakness of the area.  They don't see the half million dollar homes in Staley Farms or all the houses in New Mark and the Willow subdivisions.

The current perception about demand at Metro can be overcome.  The owners have some new folks working to redo the Mall and have an official Mall redevelopment plan website here.  They have gone through the proper KCMO approval processes to facilitate a complete redo of the site including the south side of Barry Road.  They also have big but realistic plans to improve the look of Barry Road from Platte Purchase to North Oak and make it look more like a boulevard.

However, that all hinges on some legal battles.  When the parent owner of Zona Rosa™ wanted to move Dillards™ to anchor their phase 2, they bought the Dillards™ store.  Most malls, even though they are one building, are often subdivided and the anchors own the store and parking lot and pay a common area maintenance fee.

The owners of Meto North have to deal with the Dillards™ store ownership not being under their control and in order to redo the site have to pursue legal options to make it happen.  The Mall's owners have a recent track record of redeveloping sites as evidenced by their redo of the East Hills Mall in St. Joseph. 

There isn't any fault to be placed on any of the parties.  In this economy, any advantage over your competitors has to be utilized in order to survive.  The parties are competing using what they can to stay relevant. 

It is fascinating to watch how the market is working here and I hope that something gets decided so that either the plan moves forward or someone starts working on a Plan B.

While Metro North may have its issues right now, it could be worse.  One of the deadest malls in America is located in my mom's hometown of Harvey, Illinois.  Dixie Square Mall was opened in 1966 and closed 12 years later.  The mall was made famous since it was later staged and used to film this scene.

Film credit to Universal Studios from the Blues Brothers movie.

I guess you could take your kid's small battery powered car into Metro and no one would notice and re-enact this scene at a smaller scale.  Just try to keep them from running into the pool or trying to ride the balloons to the top.