KC in Wall Street Journal today

There's an article in The Wall Street Journal today, describing the current national commercial office space situation in the country. It uses our own City Center Square as an example as it has about a 50% occupancy rate at present: Trouble Is Brewing for Office Market

The coverage is brief in the article: "A 660,000 square-foot office building in downtown Kansas City, Mo., is trying to renegotiate its $40 million mortgage with creditors, according to Trepp. The property's vacancy rose to 48% in 2010 when a major tenant, Dickinson Financial Corp. didn't renew its lease.: The sky isn't falling but it is cloudy, at least, it seems. As if we didn't know that. Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203436904577153003477512394.html?mod=residential_real_estate

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout...

 

The above picture is one of the best and most glaring examples of what I've written about here a few times. And that is, The Kansas City Star's inability--or lack of desire or something--to write anything penetrating--and yes, potentially negative--about the state of the area's real estate, with some few, rare exceptions.

I assume the realtors have them by the throat or something.

I thought one of the most important jobs the local newspaper would be to keep the area readers and inhabitants informed on the state of one of our most important facets of our economy--that is, both the commercial and residential real estate markets.

Silly me.

The above condominium building was created in the last year or two but to this day has remained vacant. It's in a very desirable area, too, overlooking Mill Creek Park, just off the Country Club Plaza, and is a beautiful facility.

And if it were the only one--or just one of few in the area--I could understand overlooking it.

But the fact is, there is a great number of these condominiums available in the area.

And you wouldn't know it by reading the local paper.

Commercial real estate? Especially retail?

Same thing.

I would think there are more stories there.

They did have one article, a couple days ago on foreclosure notice rates in the city compared to others, nationwide and another on discounts home buyers were getting on properties--the "pretty" news, for buyers--but that's nearly it.

And sure, they'll report the opening of a new store now and again, but give the overall, big picture on real estate, especially now, when we're in a downturn?

Not really.

Not if you read The Kansas City Star.

Reporting from The Kansas City Star

I wrote about this some time ago and here I have to go again.

On the way to work today, I was listening--as I always do--to KCUR, the local NPR station through UMKC and heard their coverage of a Kansas City Business Journal article on real estate in Kansas City .

They told of how it's soft, at least, but that we are nowhere near as bad as other places in the country like Florida and California and Las Vegas, of course.

And that's all fine and good.

But what galls me, what really kills me is that this is just the kind of article The Kansas City Star should write, first of all, and should have written months ago.

Both the commercial residential real estate markets in town are so soft it's just neither pretty nor funny.

If you drive the most-prized Plaza area, and you know what you're looking for and at, you can see condominiums left and right that are empty and waiting for buyers.

And the same goes--all over town--for commercial real estate in general and retail in specific.

But do you think you'd see an article about this in the local newspaper in the last year?

Nope.

Absolutely not.

It's an important story. It could get them terrific readership. It needs to be covered.

But who's covering it?

The Kansas City Business Journal, first, and KCUR, second, by covering their, first article.

It's pathetic.

If the Star wants readership--and of course they have to--you'd think they would know to cover important local stories like these that no one else is better positioned to cover.

But they don't. Or won't.

And I have to come to one of two conclusions.

They either don't have enough imagination to know they should be covering stories like these--which I view as highly, highly unlikely and improbable--or they want to go soft on articles like these, dealing with business and real estate so they don't offend anyone's sensibilities in the business community. They don't want to come off as negative so as to put a further damper on business, at least in the minds of their potential advertisers.

And if the answer is the 2nd one--and I think it may well be--that's a great way to further kill a newspaper.

They'd rather send a reporter, instead of around the city, to South America, to report on the sex-trafficking trade.

Strange priorities, indeed.

Remember when the Plaza had most of its store spaces occupied?

 

Reporting, anyone?

The Kansas City Star won't do an article on the current commercial real estate situation, bad as it is, but they write one on people buying cars without side airbags.

There are residential condominium complexes all over town, largely empty. Complexes standing built but almost completely empty.

There there's the 1/2 finished "West Edge Project" on the Plaza complete with 2 cranes standing above it but otherwise empty.

There are, as I said, projects and facilties all over town half or more empty.

You think the Star would cover it?

Not a chance.

Unbelievable.

Link to story:
http://www.kansascity.com/842/story/1385463.html