The Missouri Development Finance Board (MDFB) has approved $30-million in tax credits for the proposed Kansas City Wizards soccer stadium and retail/office project on the site of the old Bannister Mall in southeastern KC-MO..
Owen Buckley told The KANSAS CITY STAR that demolition of the decrepit Bannister Mall and surrounding failed retail development structures "could begin 2 to 4 months from now at the earliest" and that actual construction of the new complex "could start as early as next spring"- although K.C. Wizards spokespeople said it could be "2011" before the Wizards play a game in their new digs.
However Lane4 Development- the company financing and building this project- is asking the city for even more help in financing this project.
Buckley told The STAR: "We are very bullish this project will eventually (?) happen, but last winter the economy started taking a nosedive. The economy has caused us to take a step back. It's causing us (Lane4) hesitation because we can't sell bonds" for the stadium/retail project.
Jeffery Yates- KC-MO's finance director- "declined to offer specifics" on the additional "help" that Lane4 is seeking on this project- according to the STAR article.
What I don't understand is the planned retail for this project. In order to build this thing- they'll be tearing down structures that- as of 5-10 years ago- contained hundreds of retail businesses now long gone.
Will Lane4's retail development in this project be viable- especially in an increasingly-worsening retail climate?
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1 comment:
Regarding that entire area by Bannister Mall: You can't put a polish on a turd. The forces that ruined the area, caused flight of most of the taxpayers who lived there, and caused the cancerous blight to spread down to Ruskin are still in effect.
A better use of the money would be to set it afire for heat this winter. Then it's at least gotten something legitimate.
This entire project is doomed to fail. Yet another TIF. Aka: Totally Inappopriate Fucking.
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