The Star Isn't as Bleak on Mission Gateway

Out local Star paper ran the following article today.

Future of Johnson County’s Mission Gateway 

in question

On their website, it had this headline:

‘We’ve waited so long’: Future of Johnson County project in question, funds in limbo

A bit from the article:

The property has the hallmarks of an active construction project: a yellow crane, orange cones and temporary chain link fencing. But there are no sounds of dirt moving or concrete being poured. And no workers in sight.

After 15 years of delays and tempered expectations, work has once again halted at the ill-fated $225 million Mission Gateway development in Johnson County. And it’s unclear if or when it might start back up.

And check out this ugliness.

Workers left the site after two major funding sources were put on hold during the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, at least a dozen liens have been filed on the property, claiming invoices have gone unpaid to contractors and suppliers.

“We have not been paid,” said Jerry Messick, one of the contractors and owner of Metro Interiors in Lee’s Summit. “I can tell you that without any guilt because it really pisses me off.”
Keeping in mind, as the article states, too, this has been going on for 15 years. Wow.

So true. So very true. I wrote and posted this July 16, last week.

Mission Gateway: 

The Construction Project From Hell

To say, however, that the project is "in question" when you have a huge slump in retail shopping anyway and then now, this pandemic which makes even construction difficult, let alone, again, weakens that same retail shopping and, for the foreseeable future, dining out, restaurant business and then movie-going, too. Yes, it makes the funding of this project highly suspect, if not out and out deeply in doubt to very unlikely. Funding is drying up all over but especially here, on this nightmare.

I say again,  what should happen is the developer finally, finally faces the ugly reality, declares bankruptcy on the entire project then donates the land, the entire site, to the city of Mission for a park.

It won't but that's what should happen.

At one point in the article, the Star asks if it wasn't "The right idea at the wrong time."

To which I'd answer no. It was never the right idea. The former site worked and was good-looking and well-placed. It should have been updated, at most.  And all this was, of course, at the worst possible time, for all the reasons I mention in my post above--the 2008 financial collapse, the collapse of retail and now this pandemic and all it brings down on everything here.

Good luck, Mission.

You're gonna' need it.

Mission Gateway: The Construction Project From Hell

What is Mission's "Gateway" construction project for a mall but "The Construction Project From Hell"?

There was a beautiful mall, facility already there, perfectly fit into its space but hey, some multi-millionaire thought he knew better--and could make yet more money!--so he tore it down.

Only to be hit by the 2008 economic collapse.

So it sat.

And sat and sat.

Vacant.

An empty lot.

And in a fantastic location, at least for the city of Mission, so the lack of its being developed--then all the way through today--has been obvious, painfully obvious to the point of being a downright eyesore.

So it slowly, ever so slowly came along.

First Walmart was supposed to come down the hill and that certainly got a lot of people concerned. Too many didn't want that clientele in their coy little environs.

It was also supposed to have an upscale movie theater and, yes, bowling alley/entertainment center and nice apartments and on and on.

But then retail collapsed, what with everyone buying online.

And Walmart backed out.

And more.

Then, of course, the worst, most killing international and then, now, national pandemic in the last more than 100 years came along.

So this is where we are today.

Mission council likely to consider resetting construction completion deadlines on Gateway project

From the story:

It's been nearly 15 years since the Mission Center Mall closed at Roe and Johnson Drive. Construction on the long-awaited mixed-use project on the site has been halted as a result of financing issues caused by the pandemic.

The city of Mission will likely consider pushing back the December 2021 construction completion deadline in its development agreement on the Mission Gateway project to accommodate construction delays.

GFI Development and the Cameron Group, the project’s developers, announced one month ago that construction had to pause indefinitely after two funding sources were put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But wait. It gets worse. At least for the developer.

The development agreement sets a construction completion deadline and the terms of the city’s tax incentives for the Gateway project, which include the Gateway development’s access to revenues from a tax-increment financing (TIF) district and a community improvement district (CID). If the project does not meet the December 2021 deadline, the developer could be in default of the agreement, putting the tax incentives in jeopardy, said City Administrator Laura Smith.

It's just been a nightmare from the start, from the beginning and it only continues to get worse, all the way around.

They tore down a reusable, attractive building, hoping to make yet more, bigger money and then put up what is unequivocally one of the ugliest buildings, so far, I've seen or even imagined in a long, long time. Go by the site. It is one ugly, ugly building.

It is now going to sit there, basically, until at least this winter and then it will wait yet more, until good weather, until Spring, 2021, at least, before it will be restarted.

Then, again, check out this 2 beauty from the Shawnee Mission Post link, above, on that one partner, GFI.

A recent article also noted that GFI was put on credit watch with a negative outlook by S&P Global Ratings. The company owns many hotels, which have struggled to profit throughout the pandemic.

Finally, there is this on their tenants.

FUTURE OF GATEWAY’S TENANTS

The entertainment and hospitality industries have been hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with each industry losing billions of dollars since mid-March. But Smith said that the anchor tenants of the Gateway development, which are part of these two industries, are still in place. This includes Cinergy Entertainment, a food hall by Tom Colicchio’s Crafted Hospitality and a Marriott hotel.

“We know the developer is in conversations with their tenants regarding impacts to operations in light of COVID-19,” Smith said.

This past May, Andy Ashwal, vice president and senior asset manager of GFI Development Company, said that the Tom Colicchio food hall was being designed to easily shift to take-out services when necessary, in light of the pandemic.

A spokesperson for Cinergy declined to comment. Crafted Hospitality and a Marriott spokesperson did not respond to emails asking for comment. Marriott International Inc. saw a 92% decrease in their first-quarter profit of 2020 as most traveling came to a stand-still amidst stay-at-home orders.
Does that sound good or hopeful or promising to you?

So don't get impatient, Mission. Get used to seeing yet more of this ugly, ugly eyesore. Get used to it sitting there, vacant.

Good things come to those who wait?

You know what should happen?

The developer finally, finally faces the ugly reality, declares bankruptcy on the entire project then donates the land, the entire site, to the city of Mission for a park.

It won't but that's what should happen.

And hey, he'd get tax write-offs.

Good luck, Missionians!

You're gonna' need it.

Link:

And with the Kansas City Star at least in financial straits, if not, as I wrote here earlier, going to one day soon close, you might want to subscribe to this.

Shawnee Mission Post - 

Community news and events

What Should Happen With the Mission Mall Site

Here it is as it stands right this moment. Still. It is still and it is still basically an ugly lot.

What should happen with it?

What should happen with this now-eyesore is that it should be given up, sold, I suppose, to the city for some reasonable fee and made into a park. It should be made into a city park. It would be a fantastic entrance into the small city, and it would enhance the entire area around it.

What should have happened, years ago, is that the mall should never have been torn down and leveled into the, again, eyesore it is now and has become and that it has been for some time. Even without hindsight it should have been known it shouldn't have been leveled and wasted. It needed upgrading, improving, but it fit the site, it was not ugly, it wasn't an ugly mall, it wasn't run that run down and vacated.

No doubt the developer got greedy. He no doubt thought this would somehow be a great idea and make him loads more money.

Man, was he wrong.

Sure, the 2008 financial collapse brought this mess on, too, but the whole notion of leveling a functional and again, not completely unattractive shopping center just so someone could, hopefully, make boodles more money was short-sighted and just downright greedy.

Now?

Now Walmart has backed out of the plans to locate in what the developer thought was going to be an upcoming, new center. Good luck finding another large tenant now. I feel certain there are and were plenty, plenty of Mission residents who didn't want the Walmart/Roeland Park customers coming down the hill to this site, anyway.

Another point, have you seen the latest reports on retail this week? Where retail is headed, it seems clear?

Retail collapse: The 23 biggest chains 

closing stores this year

"Retailers Are Running Out Of Time"

Cramer warns the collapse 

of department stores 

cannot be dismissed

Retail Collapsing Nationwide - 

Massive Layoffs

Heck, even Walmart is hurting.

With 269 Stores Closing, 

Is this the Beginning of the End 

for Walmart?

And here's why.

Online Sales Soar while 

Brick-and-Mortar Stores Crumble

So yes, this is what should happen. Turn it over. Make it into a park. They could even call it Mission  Gateway Park.

It won't but that's what should happen.