Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Soccer Stadium Plan At Bannister Mall In Peril



It appears the decrepit sights of dozens of abandoned buildings in the old Bannister Mall area will be with us for awhile.


Recently- The Missouri Development Finance Board (MDFB) met- and did not take action on the $21-million in state tax credits to the developer of the project- Lane4/Three Trails Development LLC (L4/TTD).

The board claimed that L4/TTD had not submitted their proposal of how many square feet of building would compromise each phase of the project.

The next MDFB board meeting was scheduled November 18.

L4/TTD had proposed an 18500 seat soccer stadium for the Kansas CIty Wizards- along with a retail and office development for the area around the former Bannister Mall site and the "first" phase that includes the soccer stadium and some retail was to be completed by 2010.

As of this morning- October 7- 2008- not one spade of earth has been turned nor one brick removed for the project. The old Bannister Mall and the numerous empty structures in the area around it- open to the elements in many cases- continues to deteriorate.

In addition to the delay on the state tax credits looms a bigger elephant in the room: the faltering American economy.

One HAS to wonder if the project will get the needed private funding to proceed even if the state tax credits are approved.

The article linked above indicates that if the stadium isn't completed by the originally proposed deadline of 2010- the Wizards may build their stadium elsewhere.

Fellow residents in this seemingly neglected area of Kansas City wonder aloud if indeed this- or any other project- will replace this major-league eyesore (see the CSW post "Photo Essay...." ) visible to drivers along Chuck Eddy (Hillcrest) Road and I-435.


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