In The Star's Cityscape today it was mentioned that the owners of Antioch Center are likely to pursue redevelopment of the center using TIF dollars. They are also seeking to involve RED Brokerage, an arm of RED development, in the redevelopment. It was mentioned that a possible open air redesign may be pursued. This is particularly interesting because wasn't Antioch an open air center to begin with?

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit ... 636000.htm

I would like to see them pursue something similar to what is being done at Boulder's Crossroads Mall with traditional department store anchors blended with restaurants and entertainment in an environment with excellent bus, bike and pedestrian access.
http://www.kcskyscrapers.com/kcforum/vi ... php?t=2728

It was. A couple of the Star's recent books (e.g., Then & Now) have pix of AC back in the day. Not sure when it was enclosed, though.

it was enclosed around 1980. i used to ride my 10 speed in it before they closed it off.

ink

Didn't AC have a Macy's? When did that close?

I remember that closing in probably the late 80s. I remember my mom being all mad.

I'm glad Antioch is resisting the old-suburban decay and trying to keep up w/ the times. That place is always dead when Im there, but they won't let it die. It could easily be an ugly run down half empty waste of space. Like Metro North.

If Antioch teams up with RED, it seem like further problems could be ahead for Metro North. If RED brings in some big tenants, Antioch could start to become a big competitor and even successor to Metro North.

I went to Antioch Center today, just to look around. Does anyone remember when it was an open Plaza? Was it nice? I tried to imagine what it looked like open and wondered if it was actually an early version of a New Urban Lifestyle Center.

The building was still in pretty good condition but the parking and non-landscape looked very dated.

Does anyone know of any old pictures of Antioch? Was it the first post-war suburban center?

You might wanna try www.oldkc.com - there may be pics there.

There are a couple in the first Then & Now book from the Star.

They're planning on taking the roof off again.

Antioch looks to also face the wrecking ball...
[size=18px]
Total remake proposed for Antioch Center[/size]

By JOYCE SMITH The Kansas City Star

The owners of Antioch Center in the Northland want to raze the mall and replace it with a $70 million shopping center with freestanding stores and restaurants.

The redevelopment is contingent on about $30 million in tax increment financing assistance. The plan was submitted to the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City on Friday.

If the plan is approved, construction will start in mid-2005 for a fall 2006 opening. The new shopping center would have more than 470,000 square feet of retail, office and entertainment. There would be two big-box retailers, five medium-size retail spaces, three pad sites for restaurants, and 40,000 square feet of smaller shops for local and regional specialty retailers. Customers could park directly in front of the stores.

The plan, which echoes mall changes across the Kansas City area, also calls for extensive landscaping, new lighting and new storefront designs. Gould Evans Goodman Associates is the architect for the proposed center.

“Time and shoppers, customs and conveniences and habits have dictated a different style of shopping,â€

Will this new design be comparable to Leawood's Town Center?

Also, why is K.C. tearing down some of their enclosed malls in favor of open air shopping centers? This region has cold and inclement weather four to five months out of the year, making shopping in these outdoor venues rather impratical and unpleasant for a lot of customers. Afterall, this is not California or Florida.

This is very good news. Even if it's not incredibly successful, at least they are not sitting there letting Antioch and the surrounding area rot away.

I hope they take the advice to include the surrounding neigbhorhood in the TIF. They also need to connect it to the street grid, giving it better pedestrian access.

Karin, shopping outside is the way it always was before the 1970s, and the way it still is in most of the world. The weather didn't seem to stop our parents/grandparents/etc from walking between the old stores downtown or to the corner grocery store. February and August are the only really extreme months here. The enclosed malls will still be around. Three would be plenty for a city our size.

So a private developer is getting $30 million in TIF money to tear down a 50-year-old structure and build a lifestyle center / exterior drive-up retail / [insert euphemism for strip mall here]? Surely there is something more creative that could be done with this project. I guess it's good that at least something is happening, but still...

Please speculate who you think will become the major tenants. Will Sears move to North Metro and fill the empty Ward's wing? Will it just become another Bed, Bath and Beyond area?

I was really hoping they would go "Retro" and return it to its 1954 roots with a much better streetscape.

I really like open shopping and coming from further north I don't consider it winter until it is below zero.

An article about the future redevelopment of Antioch Center stated that it is the first and oldest shopping center north of the river.

It made me think of the first and oldest shopping center that I remember in Des Moines (not Merle Hay) and it is far removed from any hope of re-development. I realize that even though we complain about KC sprawl that KC has done an admirable job of keeping a 1950 era part of town viable. The north area of Des Moines, of which I speak, has decayed considerably more than KC.

I'm sure there's threads about this around here, but nothing obvious came up when I searched - & I'm in a hurry, so  :


http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit ... 387186.htm

I guess another Kansas City mall is going to bite the dust.

This is more of a strip mall than earlier  At one point there was a plan for more of a mixed-used center connected with the street grid and neighborhood east of the mall.