In an attempt to bolster an area in a steep downglide- KC-MO elected officials are about to approve what is called a "risky" TIF plan for the area around 63rd Street & Prospect called Citadel Plaza- according to THE KANSAS CITY STAR.
Among items in this project are new housing and a new grocery store. Forty years ago- the southwest corner of 63rd Street and Prospect held a grocery store (Milgrams) and a drug store (Katz-Skaggs). Not 6 blocks west- the then-new Metro Plaza shopping center had not only another grocery store and drug store- but a multi-screen movie theater
Earlier this week- the STAR ran an article about new homes built in the Blue Hills area (refer to Google Map) east of Paseo and north of 63rd Street. Those houses remain unsold and unoccupied.
The big ugly pig in this area is crime. Look at the KC STAR's homicide map. That's just the folks that actually got murdered. The map doesn't pinpoint lesser crimes.
The KC-MO Police's Metro patrol division station is located on 63rd Street between Blue Hills and the proposed Citadel Plaza project. That station is supposed to be rebuilt- elsewhere- unfortunately for this project.
The city helped finance the new- unsold/unoccupied homes in Blue Hills. So is this new TIF project- Citadel Plaza- any more viable?
In September 2007- the former city finance director "ABRUPTLY RESIGNED" her post- partly- THE KANSAS CITY STAR reports in a Thursday morning article in the Business section- "because of her concerns about the city's financial risk associated with the Citadel Plaza proposal.
Should this resignation be a warning signal? Something about that project HAS to be pretty screwed up if a person is willing to give up a well-paying job over it.
Does this area need help? Indeed it does. HOWEVER...
More and more properties in this city are being removed from the property tax rolls due to tax incentives. There's an increasing number of those properties that need ADDITIONAL taxpayer assistance on top of TIFs.
Before long- the rest of us will NEED a TIF designation for relief from the REST of the city getting a property tax bye.
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