I love much of the old architecture in downtown Kansas City, MO. Presently, the 125-year-old Cosby Hotel at 9th and Baltimore is due to be demolished because it is unsafe. The developer who was to redevelop has not done so. So Blog KC reports a possible solution:
The upshot is that the building in an existing TIF district (Baltimore Place) and Rick Powell is at least two years behind his promised timeline for redeveloping it. These two things mean that the City already has the authority to seize the building and give it to another developer like Adam Jones. It’s just a matter of the City Council having the political will to do it.
Seizing the building would not only save an historic structure, it would send a message that developers who get big tax breaks are expected to be good stewards of the public money.
We'll see.
Comments