The Line Creek Loudmouth

Parkville Going Big at 45 and I-435

Buckle up and pay attention folks.  There is going to be some homework at the end of this post.  Looks like there is finally some development pressure at the interchange of I-435 and Route 45.  It appears that there is some substantial rezoning being proposed in the fair city of Parkville.  Everything shaded below is going to be impacted and discussed at a Parkville Planning and Zoning Commission meeting next week.

The area roughly ID'd as Parcel IX is being proposed to become Creekside Residential.  This is the area hatched below.

The development would include 111 single family homes, 100 townhouses, and 216 apartments per the staff report and would look something like this below.  Note, north is at the top, Brink Meyer is on the right and I-435 is on the left. The Thousand Oaks subdivision would be to the right of this.

Just to the north of that and south of Route 45, roughly in Tract VIII, a project being called Creekside Commercial is being proposed in the area hatched below.

This project would include "planned commercial development consisting of hotel, restaurant, grocery/market and other commercial and mixed-use retail uses on 38+/- acres."  Site plan is below with Route 45 at the top, Brink Meyer and Thousand Oaks on the right, I-435 on the left and the existing gas station (not shown) in the upper right hand corner.

One editorial and a big thing that concerns me is neither of these plans on the east side of I-435 show a trail along Brush Creek.  It's been long planned that there would be a trail along Brush Creek from the Missouri River up to Tiffany Springs Park.  This trail was part of the 18+/- year old Northland Trails Vision Plan (see excerpt here) and if it was built, it would connect the Missouri River, Line Creek, and 152 Trail systems and create a roughly 26 mile loop. 

Seems like it could be done easily in the floodplain or along the sanitary sewer easement without impacting any development.  I hope it happens for everyone who lives out there.  It would be an amazing trail.  It would allow people to get to this development without using a car and would be a great amenity for hotels and offices within the projects.  It also would be great bike tourism for downtown Parkville because visitors could use the hotels and then ride down for brew pub dinner <end editorial comment>.

The northwest corner of 435/45 is being pitched as Lakeside Northwest Quadrant, "a planned residential development consisting of 100 single family homes and 160 townhome units; and a planned commercial development consisting of two hotels, three restaurants, one quick serve restaurant, one pharmacy/medical office, one gas station and retail uses."

The site plan for Lakeside Northwest Quadrant is below.  Route 45 is on the bottom and I-435 is on the right.

Another editorial comment on the plan.  It would be nice if they pulled the west outer road for 435 through the development so that it isn't so close to the interchange.  It would save MoDOT (ie us taxpayers) the cost of relocating that outer road once traffic becomes so unbearable because of a frontage road 100 feet away from a ramp terminal (ie like 45 and I-29).  I tried showing how easy it would be with a blue line and the red X's denoting the road being abandoned.  Maybe there could be some motivation for everyone to work together to move the road and then release some of the right of way that would not be needed as a trade off to the developer to offset the land lost with the relocation so it's a win-win for private interests and us taxpayers.......................

Lastly, the final corner is being pitched as Parkville Industrial Southwest Quadrant and would be "a planned industrial development consisting of 29 pad sites for office/service and industrial uses, including manufacturing, storage and warehousing."

Site plan is industrial so it isn't too sexy.  Route 45 is on the top of the picture and I-435 is on the right.

Now for your homework.  You can download and read the staff reports and all the development plan submittals here.  There is some organized opposition to the zoning changes and that's how I heard about these plans.  You can check out their FB page here.  It's a closed group but they've added their 466 members in the past week. 

The City of Parkville published a list of FAQ's of the area so I encourage you to look at their page here.  Within that FAQ page is a link to previous 2014 presentation on the area and it's opportunities.  This area is part of the Neighborhood Improvement District (NID) that has been creating some financial controversy.  Sewers and pump stations aren't cheap and somehow that debt has to be repaid.

Unfortunately this is the case of the latest victim of the Strongtowns "Illusion of Wealth" theory and need for development to pay off the NID debt.  It's no different than the Zona Rosa fiasco.

 

Parkville Doubling Down on the Development Welfare Game?

Today I was just minding my own business driving along the newly widened Route 45 when I spotted where MoDOT decided to protect people in their cars with their seat belts and air bags by installing sharp metal guardrail which would be fine except the guardrail is right next to a multi-purpose trail.  This trail of course will be used by people who don't have safety features and any accident or stumble they have would result in the guardrail disfiguring or fatally impaling them.  This kind of put me in a mood.  Of course it could also be the fact that I was driving on this road on my way back from freezing my rear off at a kid's soccer game.......

I also noticed that this less than a year old guardrail end terminal which I think costs around $3,000 has already been hit.  Maybe the guardrail should have been installed on the backside of the trail away from the edge of the street and where cyclists and pedestrians wouldn't face instant death if they slipped.....

It reminded me of my earlier post and gripe about the professional negligence towards non-motorized users' safety on Route 45.  The misapplication of the AASHTO Roadside Design Guide in urban areas makes urban streets less safe than they can be.  I also took the roundabout at 45 and K at 40mph because those DOT roundabouts are designed to handle the minimal amount of semi-trucks because engineering group-think designs for the worst possible scenario without evaluating probabilities and DOT's and DOT firms are set up to design everything like a freeway first and foremost.

Anyways, as I approached Route 9, I noticed that the hillside on the south side of the highway right after "THE National" had been deforested and remembered that there was a TIF approved years ago and wondered if some taxpayer subsidized development was finally happening.

I did a quick internet search and turns out, it looks like Parkville is in the process/has approved/has tabled a TIF that will divert funding away from the Park Hill School District. I thought maybe it was for the big hillside and that might have made sense but it's for a piece of ground with Route 45 frontage, two existing traffic signals, and is somewhat graded already on the north side of 45 and Melody Lane.  It's the tract shown in red below.  The Price Chopper^TM is to the south of the site.  Graden Elementary is to the right or east.

This site of course is SOOOO blighted and so rough that it looks like this.....

It's bad enough that the Metro North TIF is taking away money from the Platte County School District and the office to hotel redevelopment on Ambassador Drive is going to withhold property taxes from Park Hill but if ever there was a perfect poster child of the abuse of the "blight" definition in the TIF statute, it's this one.  It might be why House Bill 1236 is getting some traction in Jefferson City this year.

I might understand the public benefit if NW Cross Road was being realigned with Bell Road and the traffic signal but looking at the site plan, this looks like more cookie cutter suburban auto oriented retail.  I guess it would be nice to have a McDonald's^TM or Burger King^TM with a play place on that site since there are a lot of kids in the area.  I'm sure a chicken place is due to show up in this part of Platte County and don't forget we could use another pizza place, nail salon, and cell phone store.  We couldn't have more nice things like that without TIF.

The staff report can be read from the entire 277 page Parkville BOA packet here.  Just look for APEX.

It appears that there was a special BOA meeting on January 24, 2018 just to talk about how much to give away for the development.   Most of these TIF plans and staff reports are a bunch a pencil pusher busy work so I just skip to the tables because that's where the reality is.  You can read the 61 page  packet here and decide on your own. 

Not only will the development site have TIF, it will have a Community Improvement District aka CID (maybe even two) so you can pay an extra one or whatever cent for the privilege of shopping there.  Now let's take a look at the proposed TIF budget shall we.

The TIF subsidy on this run of the mill development is 35% of the project cost.  It also contributes $843,122 towards the purchase of the land.  Since is is a PILOTs (aka property tax) diversion TIF, this impacts the Park Hill School District and these concerns were noted in the November 13, 2017 TIF Commission meeting.

The last news article I could find about this besides perusing all the BOA packets was a January 17 write up by Jeanette Faubion.

While I was doing that, I discovered that Parkville also was considering more handouts but this time using Chapter 100/353 abatement programs to build an office building along Route 9 just south of the west entrance to Park College.

It's a four story office building with tons of parking because cars is what makes Parkville unique.

 

The consultant study lists this little nugget.

Here's the big picture question from the consultant report.  They paint the rosy "but for" analysis that after 15 years, the taxing jurisdictions will be rolling in the dough.

If Parkville does this and I'm reading the report right, this means that over 25 years with all the increased traffic on Route 9, impervious surface, and parking lot maintenance, the City will net $507,000 in today's dollars???  That would be enough to pay for a traffic signal at 6th and Route 9 and its operational cost for 25 years.  Is it really worth it? 

Is this something a city that is already dipping into emergency reserves for prior eco/devo schemes should be doing?

Go ahead and troll all you want like I did because all agendas/packets/video can be found here.

If you are a Park Hill School District parent in Parkville you might want to think about the precedent being set because we are the ones that will pick up the bill with rising enrollment while the developer cashes the checks drives on down the road to the next vacant piece of dirt........

Clip credit to Isuzu Motors Ltd and whoever did their campaign.

I-29 Office to Hotel Conversion

While not as exciting as the saga of The Boat at Tiffany Springs there is some redevelopment of long vacant office space along the I-29 corridor underway.  Back in the 1970's, someone built a pair of matching office buildings between NW 112th Street and Tiffany Springs Parkway. 

Those buildings of course lost their sexyness and tenants moved to newer places because that's what happens in suburbia.  Someone has bought the south tower and is in the process of converting it to a hotel. 

If you've been along I-29 lately, you may have noticed that the exterior shell and interior have been stripped to the concrete skeleton.

The new interior walls are being framed right now.

It looks like the parking lots will mostly remain the same although more parking will be added on the green space on the southern portion of the parcel.

This is what the front door of the hotel will look like and is from the viewpoint if you were looking south from Ambassador Drive.

This is the southern view of the hotel or what you would see if you were going north on I-29.

This is the westerly side of the building or what you would see if you were driving south on I-29.

Lastly this is the view of the eastern side of the building or what you will see from Ambassador Drive.

The project's got a ten year, 100% tax abatement according to this old KC Business Journal article.  Now what to do with all the other vacant office buildings in the area given the changing work environments?

 

Clip credit to the Strong Towns movement.

Honda of Tiffany Springs™ Expanding

Sometimes I see development plans and I'm just like "barf, that's boring" but suck it up and write a post just so you know what's going on.  I haven't been doing my real estate posting because there's really been nothing that's been interesting enough for me to give up a half hour to post.

Sometimes I try to put some spin on it or my own take like the low quality self storage plans at Green Hills and Old Tiffany Springs Road or Green Hills and Barry Road which is deforesting the Line Creek Valley as you read this.  I guess with this case, I'll just point out like those self storage developments, we're getting more impervious pavement and the added tax benefit of stormwater fees and without buildings or employees.

If you haven't been on Old Tiffany Springs Road lately on your way to help keep Platte County afloat by helping pay off the Zona Rosa bonds, Honda of Tiffany Springs™ is expanding to the west. 

They are building more car storage because apparently there isn't enough car inventory for sale in this country (did you that in 2015 know Missouri had 926 vehicles per 1000 people in the state?).

The parking lot will have some perious pavement that, in theory, is supposed to mitigate run-off and will have some landscaping to buffer it from the street.

Rather boring but it seems like folks are getting restless about the type of development that's starting to happen in the area as evidenced by two seperate petition drives. 

We've got two citizen led iniatives with one wanting to build a park at Green Hills and 152 and another group that wants to preserve the heart of the Line Creek Valley. 

Both petitions can be found here for Green Hills/152 and here for the Last KC Forest if signing stuff is something you do.  Both groups have gotten some TV time in case you missed it.

 

 

Watching that KCTV5 report, I can't help but picture the hillside being bulldozed to build a parkway or a bunch of sports fields and think I'm glad I'm not the only one who cares about nature and places to enjoy it.  I actually stumbled on a cluster of cardinals today that must be migrating around the area.  They seemed to like Line Creek.

Proposed Apartments and Self Storage at Green Hills and Old Tiffany Springs

MORE SELF STORAGE!!!  I'll save the pontification and refer you to my post about self-storage being zoned at the southeast corner of Green Hills and Barry Road.  A rezoning has been approved for the southwest corner of Green Hills and Old Tiffany Springs Road.

The proposed land use will be climate controlled storage with some four story and two story apartment buildings.

The site will sit above the existing houses in Tiffany Place and Autumn Ridge.  This is a cut section looking north with the existing single family houses on the left/west and Green Hills Road on the right/east.

The climate controlled storage building will look like this.  It appears that the facility facade on Green Hills and Old Tiffany Springs will be one story but the rear will be two story.

The two large, four story apartment buildings will look like this.

The two story apartment buildings abutting Tiffany Place and Autumn Ridge will look like this.

I don't know the specifics but you can go the the rezoning ordinance page and read the "staff report" in the attachments to get the details on number of units, size, etc.

One thing I don't understand about real estate valuation and property tax law is now that the property has been rezoned from agricultural to master planned development with commercial uses, will there be an increase in the tax base? 

The 90 or whatever acres across the street is zoned B3-3 which means that the following businesses uses are approved as noted with a "P" in the zoning table under B3.  If an "S" is shown, I think that means that use needs to be approved by a special use permit.

Looking at the Platte County GIS page, the 90 or whatever acres north of Menards^TM with commercial type zoning is assessed at $8,426.00 which means the County only collects next to nothing even though the KCI Corridor TIF just spent millions to improve Green Hills Road.

I pay more in taxes (I think because County doesn't collect for the Lake so I write two checks and I don't remember the amounts) on my vacant 6,000 square feet Lake Waukomis lot which is zoned residential.  Again, not sure how assessment law works but the way we use property taxes to fund local government and schools doesn't seem to make sense in this case when we know the value of 90 or whatever acres along an improved street with sewer, water, gas, and power is a heck of a lot more than a vacant residential lot. 

It really won't make sense once that 90 acres is turned into more parking lots and drive up retail if you open your way of thinking about "growth" and development.....

 

Proposed Development at Barry Road and Green Hills

Seriously America.  Why do we spend over $24 BILLION a year on storing crap we don't need?  Anyways thanks to mass consumerism, self storage units aren't going away and so there is market demand for more.  A development proposal moving forward at the southeast corner of Barry Road and Green Hills which will have some fast food places, a small retail building, and more places to store the important things in your life.

Here is the site layout with Barry at the top and Green Hills to the left.

Here are some renderings of the small retail building in the upper right hand corner.

Here are some renderings on the storage building.

Meanwhile, I think Jerry Seinfeld sums up my view of today's mass consumerism.

Clip credit NBC.

Platte County's Main Event Opening May 9th?

It's been a long week and I wanted to do an on-road bike ride through our busiest areas at rush hour because I want to see how someone who doesn't have a car has to navigate as KCMO updates it's bike plan.  I rode on Green Hills Road, Barry Road, Prairie View, and NW 72nd Street including going through two I-29 interchanges.

Why would I do this?  Well I kind of pigged out on Waldo Pizza over lunch and was feeling it plus if you missed it, KCMO is updating it's bike plan and when I work on something, I need to feel it, smell it, and experience it so I will be biking in different areas along with some other staff to get a feel of areas the plan needs to focus on during implementation.  See my previous post on the #KCBikePlan update.

Also NOTE the FB event I created to help remind you to attend the Northland public meeting next Thursday.  We need average folks.  We actually had five seventh graders come visit today to learn more about the bike plan update and also how they really wish it was safer for them to ride their bikes to go to the ice cream shop in Brookside.

Focus grouping some 7th graders on #kcbikeplan update w/@mcmanuskc @polycitywander
New plan needs to accommodate allhttps://t.co/StLVY3pnGd pic.twitter.com/Kl2mBu74Qm

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) April 21, 2017

Anyways, back to the topic.  Today on my ride, I used the now open Barrybrooke to NW 79th connector which will be great for getting around. 

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

This is what the road looks like towards the south.  Note the street trees.  It's easy to tell which projects are built by the private sector and which ones aren't by just looking at which ones include trees and which ones don't.

This is looking north towards the movie theater (on the left) and Barrybrooke Drive.

Ladies and gentlemen, I pulled "the City" card today which meant I pulled credentials to take a peak in the Platte County Main Event™.  If you don't know where and what I'm talking about, flashback to my May 2016 post about where Main Event™ will be located.  I got a chance to talk to the owner and thanked him on behalf of KCMO for investing in the new facility and also asked if they were having any issues with getting permits and everything ready for opening because it will be a big draw from outside the immediate area.  When I have the chance I like to take the time to let the business community know that private investment is appreciated and that not all government workers are apathetic process trolls.

We talked for a while and he let me know they were on schedule for opening around May 9th.  I then asked if I could take some pictures because all eight of us love going to the one in Independence and he was nice enough to oblige so I took full advantage.  I figure he'll get enough free publicity from all of you reading this.  This is what the entrance on the west side of the building looks like from the exterior so far.

 This is the rear or east side of the building which faces the new Barrybrooke/79th Street.

I shot this one peeking in from the south door before I decided to ask for the full blown tour.  The bowling alley is to the east side of the building or right up against the back wall picture shown above.  The bowling pin system was humming and I asked one of the guys how they tested it.  He told me they wanted to run 3,000 cycles by next week and probably 5,000 before opening date just to make sure any bugs or parts fail they can fix it so that it's all ready to go May 9th.

The next picture was taken from the entrance.  The eating area and a couple of party rooms will be on the right.  The offices will be on the left.  The owner told me once they get their temporary occupancy permit, they will have staff there but in the meantime if you wanted to book group events or birthday parties, they are taking those reservations so check out their website for a number for sales.

The bowling lanes are still working but this is an opposite view of that shot way above of the lanes.

The laser tag area is right next to the lanes and on the north side of the building.

Lastly, the best part about the place will be the video games and suspended obstacle course which is to the northeast part of the building.

The safety harnesses are in!

Again, the hoped for open date is May 9th.  In the meantime, I reserve the right to make the first bowling joke even before the place opens......

Clip credit to Carsey-Werner Productions from That 70's Show.

Tremont Square East Development Plan

I'll be honest with you, I've written three different openings to this post but they all didn't tie together so I'll dig right into it.  We're going to get some commercial property which will increase the assessed value within the Park Hill School District and help pay for a bus barn.......

The ground south of the McDonald's™ on 64th Street at I-29 has zoning to finally develop.

The site plan includes three restaurants, a hotel, and a two story building. 

The site will have access to the new relocated NW Prairie View Road.  In case you don't know what I'm talking about, KCMO has a $2.75M federal grant to relocate the outer road, build a roundabout, and relocate the west interstate ramps to the west which will remove a traffic signal on Route 45.

The first proposed restaurant is going to be......drum roll.......a Wendy's™.  It's going to be just south of the golden arch.  I'm kind of happy because competition will hopefully improve service there.  When that place opened, they held a 20 year exclusive on a competitor who served french fries (of some similar lawyer language). 

Here is the site layout.  Chatham Avenue is on the left.

The store will sit roughly five feet higher than Chatham and will require some grading.

It will have some trees sooooo in 20 years it will look nice.

Unfortunately it's got that contemporary, American cowboy or whatever style which looks like a tin paneled barn with multiple chicken coop additions.  But does it really matter?

I don't know what the timing is nor do I care because I avoid this area because life is too short to sit in a large metal box not moving. 

One thing about this site I've always wondered is what the old bowling alley looked like.  Bowling alley you ask?  I don't have any pictures handy but that area without trees in the map below is a busted up concrete foundation.

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

If Kenneth Klamm is out there reading, I'd like to ask him if he had any pictures or clippings or if any of you out there knew what the name of the place was.

Springhill Suites™ Coming to Barry/29?

On the heels of the proposed Crossroads Hampton Inn™ now Springhill Suites™ is looking at a site across the street from Renner Elementary.

I don't have any renderings but would it really matter?

  

Jesus Christ International Church Adding Sports Fields

The Jesus Christ International Church on Cookingham Drive is going to build some sports fields at some point. 

Here is the rough layout of the site.  It will have some large soccer fields and multiple volleyball courts.

I don't have any insight on timing or programming but I will take this opportunity to share one of the best things about sports.....

 

Clip credit to whoever posted this and the respective broadcasters.

Ambassador Medical Park

North Kansas City Hospital has owned a substantial amount of ground along Ambassador and Congress which I've always assumed they bought years ago for a second hospital location.  Unfortunately it's sat farmed (and barely taxed) for years but that might change in the future. 

They have proposed a medical park in the portion of the property between Ambassador and Congress.

It looks they are proposing four smaller buildings and one large multi-office buildings. 

I think this will be a great project.  A lot of money was spent building all these roads but land has sat undeveloped up there for years and it's also adjacent to existing buildings so providing public services won't be a new burden.  I'm not sure on the timeline but I hope it's a high end doctor complex.  I'd hate to see someone like this be able to afford the rent.....

 

Clip credit to Fox from the Married With Children show.

Platte County Getting an Aldi's™

I don't know how to start this.  Is this a good thing or a bad thing?  Anyways, one of Platte County's prime retail corners is going, going, gone.  Across from the proposed Sam's Club™ and diagonal from the proposed assisted living center and retail, Aldi's™ is coming through for KCMO zoning approval.

Here is the site plan.  Top is Skyview and right is Ambassador.  The left is the driveway to Home Depot™.

Renderings of the store.  I bet the architect who is doing the building has to drink a lot to get through the pain of designing something so incredibly East Berlin......but I guess that can be expected of a German company.

What's interesting is that I had speculated they were coming in 2014 and totally forgot about posting it.  I am over 750 posts now which is amazing but not as amazing as a little piece of communist era architecture in the middle of car oriented American suburbia.

More Green Hills Development

The southwest corner of the Green Hills and 152 interchange is assembling quite a varied array of retail users.  Construction hasn't started on the Consultants in Gastroenterology building yet but it has started on KC Customs.  Nothing exciting but I thought you should know.

The only thing submitted was this simple elevation.

Now you'll be able to get your small town swerve on in the big city.

 

Platte County's Main Event™ Is Coming

and I'm not talking about the upcoming Platte County southern district Republican primary where everyone is running against incumbent and Loudmouth endorsed Beverlee Roper.  In October of 2014, I did a post on the ground south of the AMC™ Barrywoods and how it would be under construction shortly.  Now that we know where the new Northland Costco™ is going, I'm not sure what other big box retailer might enter the market (Sports Authority™ closing makes me doubt any of the other large sporting goods stores will try).  The development does have one announced tenant...Main Event™.

They will be going just south of the movie theater in the hatched area shown below.

The site plan shown below shows the size of the building (and the inane amount of parking).  Based on the map above, it appears right of way has been dedicated for the completion of the gap between NW Barry Brooke Drive and NW 79th Street.  North is to the top and east is to the right.

Below is a key map showing the renderings of the building and respective orientation. 

 This is the main entrance which will face I-29/west.

 This is the north side that will face the movie theater.

 Key map for the other two renderings.

 If you are to the south and looking north at the building, it will look like this.

Finally, this is the view from Barry Brooke Drive. 

 This is what the finished and open center in Independence looks like.

 

I'm not sure of the opening date goal but I am certain that posting this on a Saturday night brings back memories.....

 

Clip credit and one can watch the end of the match here at the official WWE website.

Random Northland Residential Developments

Nothing exciting but looks like that farm field across the street from the New Mark Shopping Center is going to be no more.

Fountain Hills gets more houses and gets closer to building out.

Now this one gets a little interesting.  The infill between all the Clayton subdivisions looks like it won't happen as someone has bought the 80 acres to put a house on. 

However, they have to get zoning approval and have developed a "ghost plat" which from what's been explained to me is a plat that might happen in the future.  What it means is that all that original Line Creek Valley forest on top of the ridge will remain as is and someone will have a nice home and plenty of deer pooping in their yard.

Man Liberty Is a Dump

Well that statement could have been made if someone had gotten their way in the 80's.  The area between Hodge Park and 291 was targeted as a landfill. 

Looking at the map, 435 hadn't even been built.  Kelleybrook Elementary wouldn't be there in addition to quite a few neighborhoods.

It's a good thing it never happened.  Never know what might show up in a landfill.....

 

Clip credit to Universal Pictures from the Fletch Lives movie.

What Platte County Really Needs Is Happening!

My dad used to walk around telling us to "not get our bowels in an uproar."  I'm not sure what that really meant but if it does happen next year I won't have far to go.  Consultants in Gastroenterology is planning on building on the west side of Green Hills between 152 and Barry Road.

Here is the site plan.

They submitted a bunch of renderings.  Can't say I like the architecture.  It reminds me of those bland, boring Cold War era buildings that line 63rd Street between Brookside and Troost.

I think they have a fairly comprehensive practice for everything related to human lower plumbing.  However, I'm pretty sure if this ever happens to you, the emergency room is the place to go......

 

Clip credit to Mike Judge and Viacom™.

Tiffany Springs Nissan™ Growing

If you haven't been up along North Congress by the The Springs KC aquatic center, dirt is flying north of the parking lots.  I drove by the other day but didn't bother to take a picture because there wasn't anything exciting besides clay and some bulldozers.  I wondered what it was and lo and behold, Tiffany Springs Nissan™ is expanding across North Congress.

While it's nothing but a parking lot and some boring buildings, it is a change from the criminally low tax agricultural zoning that the land is right now to commercial zoning. 

This means the assessed value for the Park Hill School District will increase with zero increase in student population.  That's what I'm telling myself because car dealers are really no help with sales tax revenue since that tax is paid based on the residence of the purchaser and not the location of the dealership.

Someday I need to share how to buy a car the loudmouth way.  However that time is not now.  I'm too busy enjoying life, being outside, kids, and refereeing football.  Setting foot in one of these megaplexes is not the way to smartly buy a car.  It seems like the first guy you speak to is this dude....

 

Clip credit to Orion Pictures from the movie Cadillac Man.

Tiffany Springs East Development Proposal

Ten years after the KCI Corridor TIF paid to extend Ambassador Drive up to Old Tiffany Springs Road and build MoDOT an interchange on Route 152 to relieve traffic flow at Barry and I-29, the east side of the project has a development plan coming forward.

This site is opposite the proposed Platte County Sam's Club™ on the SWC of the Old Tiffany Springs Road and Ambassador Drive intersection.  The proposed development will consist of a nursing home, an assisted living facility, and some retail developments.

Here is the site plan with north to the left and west to the bottom.  In all of the pictures, I added a red line to denote Old Tiffany Springs Road, a blue line for Ambassador Drive, and a green line for NW 88th Street.

Here are some 3D renderings of the site when it is built out. 

.

I haven't heard any announced tenants so we will have to just sit back and wait and see if any retailers or restaurants want what I think is a pretty visible spot in Platte County.  Of course nothing might happen as most real estate brokers in town don't venture north of Shawnee Mission Parkway and probably don't even know that Route 152 is a freeway and handles over 48,000 cars per day....

Parkville is Getting a Quik Trip (Finally)

One thing I don't understand about people is how they are shocked when things change or development happens.  I once joked with someone at a public meeting that if they don't want to see the farm field behind them disappear to be replaced with beige split level homes or don't want to see the street in front of them improved with sidewalks and streetlights they should move to Plattsburg.  In an urban area, development and improvements will eventually happen and it's going to be painful.

Anyways, after much brou-ha-ha, Quik Trip received Parkville Planing and Zoning Commission approval Tuesday to build a store at the southeast corner of Route 9 and 45.  What looks like this:

and is at the intersection of two state highways with a lot of cars going by and is zoned for commercial uses will become:

Here is the aerial view of the proposed site.

The site will require a lot of grading and it appears that grading will leave a buffer on the east side.

Here is a rendering with the view from MO-45.

The view from the east property line.

Architectural layout of the store's floor plan.

Pump renderings.

Finally the store outside of the store rendering.

I could have used this back in 1998.  I got signed up to play for the company team in a softball league and the games were out next to the Shawnee landfill on I-435.  I was running late to the game and the gas tank dropped below on "E" and, being new to the area, I figured there would be somewhere along I-435 to grab some gas because it's an interstate in an urban area and there's a gas station at every interchange right? 

I was in for a surprise.  There was nothing out there.  That was the time when Wyandotte County was abusing eminent domain to secure the land around the future speedway and the area was still cattle and scattered houses.

I ended up exiting at MO 45 and using my 5 speed manual transmission to coast downhill and luckily made it that station near the golf course. 

I've always been one of those that waits until the last minute to fuel up and that night it almost burned me big time.  This habit of driving 50 miles after the light comes on drives Mrs. Loudmouth nuts.  I've since then discovered I'm not the only one that does that.....

 

Clip credit to Sony Pictures Television from the TV show Seinfeld.

Renderings of the Proposed Apartments at Klamm and MO-45

Following up on the apartments proposed at the southeast corner of Route 45 and Klamm Drive (site layout here) across from Lakeview Middle School, here are some renderings of what the buildings will look like.

Street tree planting plan along the new Klamm Drive.

If you are bored and want to read more, you can download the detailed staff report on the project here.  I won't but will be morning the New York Islanders losing game 7 tonight to the Washington hockey franchise who will always be associated with one of the worst pieces of manure in sports history. 

 

Clip credit to the NHL.

Barry Road and Green Hills Convenience Store Progress

The Barry Road Temp Stop is starting to look more and more like a convenience store (see first post for site plan).  The pump canopy is up, driveway approach in, and the building exterior looks almost done.  This is what it looks like from Barry Road.

This is what the building shell looks like from Green Hills Road.

The pictures below show one of their other stores to give you an idea of what to expect when it opens.

I'm not sure when it opens but I hope they get good help....

 

Clip credit to Sony Pictures Television from the Married With Children show.

Senior Living Center at Burlington Creek

You know, I may only live 2 miles away but I hardly ever get off Route 45 to do any shopping so I don't know if the building is started, underway, or done yet.  Burlington Creek is getting some senior living which is a great use given the access to medical care here and also with the shopping at Burlington Creek to keep a senior active and busy.

I don't have any pretty pictures but here is what it will look like when complete.

It's not exciting but an excuse for a funny clip from Warner Brothers Grump Old Men.

 

New I-29 KCI Corridor Hotel Proposal

Kind of boring but there is a new hotel along I-29 north of the 112th Street interchange being proposed.  

This shows how the rest of the area will develop. 

Here is the hotel layout.

The rendering of the exterior.

Download Hotel-kci-i29-sp

Someday hotel guests will be connected to the Barry/29 retail center by the KCI Corridor Trail.  I don't know if there would ever be enough demand but some hotel guests might appreciate a bike share station.

While it's just another hotel along I-29, I'm sure it will be nicer and last longer than the old Red Crown Tavern and I hope they run background checks on employees so they don't wind up with aconcierge like this dude.... Clip credit to 20th Century Fox from the Home Alone 2 movie.

Hunter's Ridge Reactivates

The Hunter's Ridge subdivision south of Barry Road is in the process of getting planning commission approval for another phase.  This is on the south side of Barry Harbor and in the heart of the undeveloped part of the Line Creek Valley.

The additional lots are in yellow I am assuming.

One cool thing about the site plan submittal was a map that showed some of the potential final developments and the alignment from the 1990's study of Line Creek Parkway south of Barry Road.  I took the luxury of drawing in green the approximate location of the Line Creek Trail in the Drennon Lake area on the map.

If that parkway is ever built, it would go right through the old Drennon Lake dam area which looks like this.  What parkways and boulevards should look like has been in the paper recently and you can learn more and voice your opinion with some public meetings this week.

All the details are in the press release here.