Opposition to Plaza Project in the News

Check out Kevin Collison's article "Local Group Steps Out From Shadows" in today's KC Star. HKCF is finding its voice in opposition to Highwoods' proposed suburban office building on the Plaza.

Don't be fooled.

While the new drawing for the Highwoods Properties/Polsinelli Shughart office building spares "PART" of the Balcony Building, it still violates the Plaza Plan and fundamental urban design principles as well as cuts an alley through the middle of the Balcony Building so Polsinelli Shughart can have a 47th Street address. Scott Lane, President of HKCF, said "A good steward of the Plaza would not have presented this." Current Photo Original Proposal Revised Proposal Revised Streetscape In the Original and Revised images, compare the size of the proposed office building with the 6 to 7 story tower of the Resident Inn by Marriott (46th Terrace & Broadway) in the lower, left edge.

Friends of the Plaza—Save Our Plaza Campaign

A coalition of residents, neighbors, and advocacy groups is working to Save our Plaza! Highwoods Properties has not heard Kansas City—their building is still a disaster for the Plaza. Please write your city council representatives a letter or call their offices and let them know that the revised design is unacceptable. The balcony building has not been saved and Plaza is not going to benefit from the revised design proposal for the Polsinelli Shugart firm. The “compromise” re-design of the Polsinelli Building is unacceptable. The proposed building is too big for this location. As designed, the building would destroy the historic buildings and streetscape along 47th Street impacting the value of existing residential, office and retail commercial real estate. Wrong building, wrong land use, and wrong location. The corner of 47th and Broadway is a bad location for a single-use office building. The proposed building would replace a mix of residential, office and commercial retail spaces with a single office use. This is a bad idea and it will bring down the value of the Plaza overall. City Council should not grant a zoning change for this site. The design of buildings must follow the existing Plan. The developer-owners are not entitled to a zone change that would violate the Plaza Plan. The Plaza is too important to ignore the Plaza Urban Design and Development Plan—The Plaza Plan (1989) is the adopted plan of record for this area and city staff and the elected officials must follow the plan. This case impacts all neighborhoods in Kansas City. If the City Council starts to ignore its adopted Plan on the Plaza – it can ignore Plans in any neighborhood. Approval of this building would set a bad precedent for both the Plaza and the City at-large in terms of re-zoning, plan amendments and public process. The parking and traffic impact study should be made public. The proposed development combined with the existing growth of the St. Luke’s Hospital campus will create massive automobile traffic congestion and parking problems on Broadway, 47th and Wornell/Wyandotte. Other sites are available on the Plaza, on Main Street and along Brush Creek. Polsinelli needs to go back to the drawing board. All new buildings should abide by the Plaza Plan and the urban design concept of the “bowl” – which means that high-rise buildings are built at the edge of the Plaza. The historic core of the Plaza should remain a two-three story, mixed use buildings. This project creates no new jobs and will result in a loss of residential units on the Plaza. If Polsinelli wants to help our local economy and create jobs – they should hire a local planning and urban design firm to find a better location and design a building that contributes to Kansas City’s architectural heritage. There needs to be mandatory design review for all new structures on the Plaza. The Plaza is one of Kansas City’s most unique places and is known internationally. This controversy could have been avoided if city staff had required the developer to follow the adopted planning and zoning regulations.

Plaza Project Continues to Violate The Fundamentals of Urban Design

While the saving of the Balcony Building (Kansas City Star), at least in part, saving the Balcony Building has never been the only problem with the project. The Plaza Urban Design Guidelines and the fundamentals of urban design are still being violated. There is no visual linkage between the existing buildings and the proposed project. Fundamental characteristics of the Plaza have been ignored. There is no sense of cohesiveness, of buildings working together to create an overall effect greater than the individual parts. Richard Hedman with Andrew Jaszewski in “Fundaments of Urban Design” explain it better than we ever could. “Designing in context means providing enough visual linkages between existing buildings and a proposed project so as to create a cohesive overall effect. The new building should strengthen and enhance the characteristics of its setting, or at least maintain key unifying patterns. . .

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SAVE THE PLAZA

I am . . . horrified at the pictures in the Star (p. A9) . . . showing the ugly building which may replace the charming one now at 47th and Broadway. — Gretchen, Kansas City, MO We read in the KC Star this morning about the law firm that wants to demolish one of the original buildings on the Plaza in order to build a truly ugly office building. First of all, how could anyone think of building on that site? Is there no law or agreement to stop this nonsense? . . . If this is allowed to go on, pretty soon the highlight of Kansas City will be just a memory. Despite our many travels across the United States, we have yet to experience anything quite like our Kansas City Plaza. It is special and should remain so for all visitors to marvel at and enjoy. — Don & Barbara, Lawrence, KS

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