The old Power & Light building at 14th Street and Baltimore Avenue has been chosen as the best site for a 1,000 room convention hotel, should the city decide it can pay for one.
KSHB Channel 41 reports that a City Council subcommittee selected the site, which they're determined to throwaway money on. The Kansas
City Business Journal says the committee chose developer Ron Jury's $350
million plan (the Biz Journal even has an artist's rendering of what it would look like).
It's better than taking over Barney Allis Plaza.
The report also notes that the site's developer claimed ground could
be broken within 90 days of getting the final approval, putting KC in
position to bid on the 2012 Republican National Convention. Yippee.
Next
vote is Monday before the full steering committee.
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I don't live in KC, so please help me understand this. The location of the old P&L building is the chosen "site?" That sounds like demo to me. Even if they don't decide to bastardize it along with the Power & White district, when would anyone choose to ruin the integrity of the old structure by retrofitting it to a hotel? The assertion that this is the best location only illustrates the short-sightedness of KC developers.
Sadly, the convention center steering committee will pas this with nary a thought-- they'd sell their others into slavery to get a hotel. Let's hope that the City Council can see the light. Let's hope their memories of enraged constituents (regarding budget cuts) will keep them in a check.
Further, when is any deciding board in KC going to ask for a worst-case scenario? We been getting the rosy BS picture from downtown developers for years, but we've been delivered the opposite of those proposals. Public money has paid for improvements that are depreciating faster than we can ever make any tax base from them. Let's put some careful consideration into these big financial decisions and get a GUARANTEE from the developer. If we're able to create the complicated TIF program, why can't we create a program that makes the developer foot some responsibility?
How many $5.00 beers will it take to pay off this mess? Would someone do the basic math first?
By my calcuations it will take aprox 400 years to pay off the profit and loss district with the current revenue stream of overpriced man soda and zero retail.
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