Country Club Plaza = Bannister Mall part 2?

[TribalElder]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - More than 100 teens converged on the Country Club Plaza Saturday night and created a ruckus for patrons and a lot of work for Kansas City police officers.

Read more: http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/local_n...#ixzz2tczs9I7u

Stories like those about the plaza have been rolling in for the last year or longer. At one point there was a shooting and they have put a curfew in place


I remember years ago bannister mall area was thriving. Hypermart and all the other surrounding stores were very popular and always busy. Crime slowly strangled the area and people chose to go elsewhere. The whole place turned into a ghost town. Obviously Cerner is building there now but the question I pose is simple

There are a lot of options other than the plaza around KC so...

Will the Plaza die the same way the Bannister area did?

[TribalElder]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

It won't be Bannister Mall until they put guard towers up in the parking lots.

[CoMoChief]

I dont think it will get to the point of Bannister Mall.

I think the city would try to fix the Plaza's image before it ever got to that point. These gangster teens are a problem there though. I just stop going there. Haven't actually shopped there in about 10yrs. And it's been about over 2 yrs since I've been out for drinks down there.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

I dont think it will get to the point of Bannister Mall.

I think the city would try to fix the Plaza's image before it ever got to that point. These gangster teens are a problem there though. I just stop going there. Haven't actually shopped there in about 10yrs. And it's been about over 2 yrs since I've been out for drinks down there.

Yep.

It used to be a guaranteed stop every time the wife and I were in town - more often than not we just stayed down there.

We haven't been back since this shit started a few years ago. We pretty much stay exclusively down in Leawood. Pretty much everything the Plaza offers, minus the hooligans.

[Bowser]

Plus you get to rub elbows with Cowher!

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

I dont think it will get to the point of Bannister Mall.

I think the city would try to fix the Plaza's image before it ever got to that point. These gangster teens are a problem there though. I just stop going there. Haven't actually shopped there in about 10yrs. And it's been about over 2 yrs since I've been out for drinks down there.

Some think its already doomed. Only a matter of time....



http://www.kcconfidential.com/2014/0...aza-is-doomed/



The Country Club Plaza is doomed…

Like most locals over 30 I grew up thinking of the Plaza as the Crown Jewel of entertainment, dining and shopping in Kansas City. And from the 1960’s through the 1990’s the Plaza had it all.

With innovative restaurants like Houlihan’s, unique, upscale stores like Hall’s, and nightclubs like Biba’s and Dirty Sally’s, the Plaza was the place to see and be seen. All of those are gone, along with probably 50 more once familiar names.

The Plaza has redone itself twice since the 1990s.

And as we all know it’s gone almost completely corporate, eliminating almost all locally owned venues. Late night entertainment has been all but eliminated. The last true nightclub was Blonde which closed four years ago.

The Plaza still boasts some unique shopping opportunities, a sports bar and a few nice dining spots like The Cheesecake Factory, Brio Tuscan Grille and Capital Grille, but they’re all chain restaurants, nothing really unique.

Attendance on the Plaza has fallen dramatically over the last two decades. This sad reality hit home when the Kansas City Star began doing surveys about people who live in southern Johnson County going to the Plaza. By the year 2000, the average person there went to the Plaza no more than twice a year. And since that survey things have gotten much worse for the Plaza.

In fact, the only monster event the Plaza has anymore is the early fall Plaza Art Fair which still draws tens of thousands. The Christmas lighting ceremony which media used to brag had attendance of more than 200,000 people got punked several years ago by Hearne, who teamed with the UMKC statistics department to actually measure and count the crowd, which turned out to be 20,000 and change.


While it remains one of the most gorgeous shopping districts I’ve ever seen, it almost has to be on the edge of financial ruin.

In a word, the Plaza is dead.

Busy weekend nights – which are rare – look like what average weeknights used to look like. Even popular bars like Kona Grill were putting chairs up on tables before midnight when I was there last Friday on a date.

My female companion and I had walked there from Tomfooleries, which had less than 50 people when I got there Friday around 9:15 pm. The Plaza was a ghost town. It looked like a blizzardy Monday night as far as people walking around.

There just weren’t any.

Sure, the Granfaloon sports bar was half full at midnight as was O’Dowd’s but these two bars and many more used to have lines outside the door to get in. Especially on a beautiful, cool summer evening in early June.


1) The population surrounding the Plaza has fallen and/or aged.

2) Kansas City, Missouri has become increasingly dominated by an urban population - primarily blacks and latinos – with far fewer white people moving there.

3) Johnson County continues to explode. It has all the cool, new stores, shops, and restaurants – a growing population - and far less crime.

4) Most people tend to shop, play and hang out near where they live. Since not that people are living near the Plaza that can afford its upscale stops and restaurants, it gets slower by the week.

5) The young black kids hanging out on weekends hasn’t helped matters.

6) There’s really nothing there you can’t get at many other nice shopping developments around the city.

7) People are price conscious when it comes to clothing, jewelry and other apparel and Plaza prices are the highest in town and often are not justified. Even Halls Plaza is closing.

8) Online shopping has hurt retail shopping everywhere, including the Plaza.

cluelessNot to mention that the Plaza’s leadership is archaic and out of touch.

They were even afraid to bring in a Stanford’s Comedy Club a few years back, fearing it would draw a young unruly crowd at night.

The opposite is true, the Plaza needed an adult evening entertainment spot besides the movie theater. And as of now, they really don’t have one.

The hierarchy of the Plaza has also eliminated nightclubs for fear they will draw black customers. Plaza leadership, have you ever been to Kanza Hall at 119th and Metcalf or other nightspots that only play techno music? Hello?

I used to live at the Sulgrave on the Plaza in the 1990s. I loved it there. It was a beautiful place to live and I remember seeing Christmas shoppers fill the sidewalks weeks before the holiday itself.

I still take my girlfriends to the Plaza for dinner. The new hotel near where JJ’s blew up has a great bar but it too has gone quiet. It actually brings a tear to my eye.

One thing I left out in my reasons the Plaza is doomed:

On top of all its other problems, Kansas City has no tourism.

Johnson County is the new Kansas City.

The malls are packed, the streets are jammed with cars day and night. It’s clearly Kansas City’s future.

I still long for the days of FAO Schwartz, Sharper Image, even Ruth’s Chris but they’re all gone and basically forgotten. As Hearne once quoted me in the Kansas City Star, nothing lasts forever, not even flowerpot bread. Or in this case, the Country Club Plaza.

It breaks my heart.

[TribalElder]

Halls closed the plaza location today

http://www.kmbc.com/news/halls-to-cl...unday/27286640

probably just money related because they own the other location but pay rent at the plaza. Must not be profitable to keep the plaza location anymore

[Fairplay]

Originally Posted by TribalElder

Perfect tower to shoot those hoodlums.

[Eleazar]

I read somewhere that in Westport they were blocking off the streets and IDing anyone who wanted to come into the bar area, so that if you weren't 21 you couldn't get in - and that eliminated most of the problems. Is that still going on? Maybe that's why they moved to the plaza.

[Dayze]

between the legends, Town Center etc, the Plaza offers nothing out of the ordinary.

sad really. the hood rats aren't helping matters either.

[TribalElder]

prarie fire is the new spot

[Sully]

Just ate dinner there last night.
Love me some Chuy's.

[TribalElder]

And so it begins.. The turnaround or the beginning of the end

There is now a for sale sign outside the Country Club Plaza.

Highwoods Properties, the owner of Kansas City's iconic shopping and entertainment district, is selling the Plaza in order to pay for the purchase of an office complex in a posh area of Atlanta and a skyscraper in Tampa, FL.

In a news release, Highwoods said it plans to sell the Plaza no later than early next year.

Highwoods has owned the Plaza since 1989. It has faced criticism for raising rents and driving out local businesses while bringing in chains.

In recent years, the Plaza has struggled with hordes of young people swarming the streets and the area outside the movie theater on weekend nights and during the summer months.

The city passed a curfew as a result of brawls, fights and shootings but the brutal beating of an Army captain earlier this month outside a Mexican restaurant by a group of young men has made some patrons again uncomfortable about venturing to the shopping district at night.

For others, it is the place to eat and shop in the Kansas City area. The Spanish-theme outdoor shopping center was revolutionary when it opened in 1923.

"Change is inevitable. However when there is something so special you want to try to preserve it as much as possible," said Plaza shopper Gregg Campbell said. "I have concerns that it is not going to be what it once was."

Some shoppers like Michelle Bruce hope that the new owner will more effectively deal with the problems from youth.

“I hope that whoever buys this has a long-term commitment to the community, to the architecture of the Plaza but also the atmosphere of the Plaza," said shopper Christy Howard.

Highwoods is buying Monarch Centre in Atlanta for $303 million and SunTrust Financial Centre in Florida for $124 million.

Ed Fritsch, president and CEO for Highwoods, said the purchases will "strengthen our franchise of owning high-quality, trophy office buildings." The office buildings are expected to generate more income for the company than the Plaza does currently.

The Plaza is the only retail-oriented property that Highwoods now owns. The company focuses on business parks and office space.

The Plaza is a 15-block area with retail stores, restaurants, a movie theater, offices and other entertainment venues. It has more than 800,000 square feet of retail space and more than 600,000 square feet of office space. Almost 95 percent of the space is leased out.

Highwoods has had its hurdles since purchasing the property.

The Polsinelli Law Firm chose to build just outside the property's limits several years ago over height restrictions and public outcry over architectural conflicts with its proposal to build on the Plaza.

Just this month, a lawyer representing Highwoods expressed concern about a comprehensive Midtown/Plaza Area Plan headed to city council after passing committee earlier this month. He feared it would be too restrictive if passed as written.

But Highwoods says that has nothing to do with the decision.

Click here to read the news release from Highwoods.

Mayor Sly James issued the following statement:

"Highwoods Properties has been a partner with the city in many respects. As a former business owner myself, I understand the need to make decisions that account for developing business opportunities and trends. As mayor, I believe the Plaza always has been a focal point of civic pride, and I don't expect that to change with ownership," he said.

Read more: http://www.kctv5.com/story/30156343/...#ixzz3nHZHoim0

[Hammock Parties]

Do yourself a favor and go to Republica before it closes.

[GloryDayz]

I'm sure it'll all move over to OP if it's sold. No great loss really, it's not like the snobs don there can't move to the KS side of the line, or back into downtown.

[DaneMcCloud]

The last time I was in KC and on the Plaza. I was shocked at how dilapidated it looked during the day (and even the night) compared to the 70's and 80's.

Hopefully, a new owner will restore it to its former glory and make some sort of deal with the city to have private security keep out the riff raff.