KC Council approves TIF for the project. Next step is for TIF Commission, but then has to go the new mayor/council who is more TIF critical. If they approve, apparently it is a go for Fall construction.
Word is, they've been talking to W Hotels.
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http://www.kansascity.com/382/story/84736.html
KC Council expected to OK plan for Cordish hotel/condo tower
By KEVIN COLLISON
The Kansas City Star
A development plan for a 35-story combination hotel and condominium tower proposed for the Power & Light District is expected to be approved by the Kansas City Council today.
The Council Planning Zoning & Finance Committee endorsed the concept Wednesday. It sets the stage for further negotiations between the Cordish Co. of Baltimore and the city for the ambitious $179 million project proposed for 13th and Main streets.
Cordish wants to locate up to 350 residential condos and a 150- to 200-room luxury hotel in the tower. It would rise 420 feet above the entertainment district now under construction downtown.
“This is another step forward for the Power & Light District,” said Mayor Kay Barnes, who is a member of the Planning & Zoning Committee. “I support the concept of the condo-hotel proposal and hope that it will move forward soon.”
The action taken by the Council committee also would put the city on record supporting the recommendations of a recent study that calls for planning to begin for new downtown convention hotel. That report recommended the city build a 1,000-room hotel by 2011.
The condo-hotel development plan allows Cordish to create a separate tax-increment financing district to pursue its project. No dollar amounts have been determined yet, but Blake Cordish, a vice president at the family-owned company, has said the developer will assume all risk in what he described as a “pay-as-you-go” TIF.
He estimated about $35 million in tax-increment assistance would be required and the city would not be asked to back repayment of that amount should revenues fall short of projections. The remainder of the financing for the project would be assembled privately, Cordish said.
The next step after Council approval would be to introduce a formal financing plan for the project to the Kansas City Tax Increment Financing Commission. Should the TIF commission endorse the plan, it would then go to the new City Council and Mayor-elect Mark Funkhouser for consideration.
Funkhouser has said he likes the hotel-condo tower concept, but reserved any commitment on TIF financing until after the city completes a comprehensive review of its tax incentive policy.
Cordish has been pushing for a hotel-condo plan for more than a year. The city already approved an earlier plan for a 240-unit condo tower at the site, which is on the block formerly occupied by the Jones Store, but had balked at expanding it to include a hotel.
The breakthrough apparently came after Cordish agreed to remove the project from the South Loop TIF District, which is where the Power & Light project is located, and create a separate TIF plan which would not require the backing of the city’s credit.
The Planning & Zoning Committee, in its final session with the old Council, approved the concept unanimously.
“It’s been a very good process,” Barnes said. “Everybody has had an opportunity to weigh in.”
The concept of combining condo living with the services of a hotel has proven to be a popular trend in major cities around the country. Chicago has several including the Trump Tower now under construction in that city by celebrity developer Donald Trump.
While Cordish has only identified the potential hotel operator as “four-star,” city officials have said in the past they understand the developer has had discussions with the W Hotel.
If the project receives the necessary city approvals, Cordish would like to begin construction this fall with completion anticipated in fall 2009.
A Cosentino’s Gourmet Market, parking garage and health club also are being built on the old Jones Store block, call Block 110 by the city, and those projects are being built independent of the proposed condo tower.
To reach Kevin Collison, development reporter, call (816) 234-4289 or e-mail
kcollison@kcstar.com.
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