Bannister Mall KC (was going to be the Trails)

[Greg S]

Work has begun on demolition of Bannister Mall.  The Trails if fully completed will be the new home of the KC Wizards as part of a mixed use development that could almost reach $1 billion.  I actually remember when Bannister opened, how cool it was at the time.

Greg

http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/994618.html

[nebugeater]

I was living is St Jo Mo back in the late 80's / Early 90's  Was down to Bannister many times.  Another thing I remember from the area was the Walmart Concept store called Hypermart.  It was HUGE.  Remember when it opened and all the pub it got.   I believe it eventually converted into just a oversize super walmart.  If I remember correctly there were some departments in the Hypermart that you do not see in any other Walmart offerings.

During the time I was living in MO this is when this area seemed to start to fall.  I remember when they put guard towers in the parking lots around the mall.  A sign of what was happening and of things to come.

I haven't been in this area for some time  but did drive around there a bit about three years ago on the way back from Branson.  It was really sad.

[Greg S]

Looks like Cerner is going to do a $4.3 billion dollar development at this site:

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/09/45 ... pment.html

[iamjacobm]

That is an incredible investment if it all happens.  Wow.

[MadMartin8]

Looks like Cerner is going to do a $4.3 billion dollar development at this site:

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/09/45 ... pment.html

If that happened in Omaha, I know about 8(+) people on this site that would have a heart attack from that sea of surface parking.

[nebugeater]

Most of the comments on the article that is linked are negative

[Garrett]

I have to laugh at just how ignorant some of those comments are. This one

"Cerner is a health conscious company when it comes to their employee's. They would rather have their employee's walk and get the exercise than park 200 ft from the nearest door and then have to sit at a desk all day. The walk isn't as bad as it seems."

I won't even begin to talk about how horrendous that thing is. KC can keep that hahaha. It's all being TIFed anyway.

[RNcyanide]

[Greg S]

I have to laugh at just how ignorant some of those comments are. This one

"Cerner is a health conscious company when it comes to their employee's. They would rather have their employee's walk and get the exercise than park 200 ft from the nearest door and then have to sit at a desk all day. The walk isn't as bad as it seems."

I won't even begin to talk about how horrendous that thing is. KC can keep that hahaha. It's all being TIFed anyway.

I think we pretty much TIF everything here now.

Greg

[Garrett]

I have to laugh at just how ignorant some of those comments are. This one

"Cerner is a health conscious company when it comes to their employee's. They would rather have their employee's walk and get the exercise than park 200 ft from the nearest door and then have to sit at a desk all day. The walk isn't as bad as it seems."

I won't even begin to talk about how horrendous that thing is. KC can keep that hahaha. It's all being TIFed anyway.

I think we pretty much TIF everything here now.

Greg

True. But I was more thinking of the other massive |expletive| headquarters that wasn't TIFed, Amazon in Seattle.

[Greg S]

It's great that Amazon is expanding in downtown Seattle without tax breaks but that's hard the norm.

The project in KC is exactly what TIF's are for.  They are going to an area that truly is blighted and has been that way for quite some time.  Many other developers have proposed projects there but none have come to fruition.  The Cerner boys do things first class.  They are a huge player in KC now and going forward.

Greg

[nativeomahan]

This ain't in my town, so I guess I shouldn't care.  But from the drawing it seems 100% exactly the wrong type of development for any city to embrace.  Acres of parking lots?  Who the heck wants to work in that sort of sterile environment in this day and age?

[Greg S]

It will be interesting to see what the final version looks like.  These guys pay a lot of attention to design detail.  They own Sporting KC, and the soccer venue they put up in KC, the artist formerly known as Livestrong Park, is widely regarded as the best soccer facility in the US.

Greg

[Greg S]

Sounds like final version will be much improved (and larger):

http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/27/50 ... rails.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Greg

[iamjacobm]

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n ... 1415889139

"Now that they're breaking ground, people will believe it," said Kansas City Councilman John Sharp, who represents constituents near the 290-acre campus Cerner will develop on the former Bannister Mall and Benjamin Plaza shopping center sites in south Kansas City.

In addition to the $4.45 billion campus development, which will generate 4,500 construction jobs and 16,000 new Cerner jobs during the next decade, Sharp is expecting a lot of ancillary development.

Burke said the 4.7 million-square-foot campus will be developed in 16 phases and will include 16 buildings. Upon completion, it will include 4.3 million square feet of office space, two data centers, a service center, a training/conference center and employee amenities, including an on-site daycare center and health clinic, he said.

In addition, Burke said, the campus will include 370,000 square feet of retail space, providing options for restaurants, stores and a hotel.

[Greg S]

That area has been so brutal for at least the last 10 years. Nice to see such a massive reinvestment.

Greg