Anybody know what's going on?  Last I heard it was supposed to become mixed-use with condos.  It's been gutted and has been sitting untouched for weeks.

completely hearsay from someone in that 'hood, to be take with all those grains of salt...

owned by (surprise!) nick abnos. something about how it used to be a cold storage facility and when he got started on interior demo found some very unexpected things. per usual, i was told his plan was to (surprise!) add another level on top of the existing structure. you can see his handiwork down the street on the little strip that houses gregory family dental.

I knew Abnos owned it.  That's interesting about finding some unexpected things.  I'm guessing environmental?  That will kill a project faster than anything if the owner doesn't have deep pockets.  Now I'm curious and will do some digging.

checked kiva and found no active permits for that address. i've heard he rarely follows process, so it wouldn't surprise me if the work was going on without permit. one should be posted if the site is active, so call and turn them in if it's not (you could add that to your city council resume!).

also, found this article cached on google from 5/17/05:

[i]Old Brandsmart will be retail space
By JOYCE SMITH
Columnist

Nicholas Abnos is refurbishing rundown areas of Kansas City — a corner at a time.

He’s taken on the historic Firestone Building in downtown Kansas City — first for a furniture store and now possibly for lofts — along with little neighborhood centers in areas such as Shawnee and in the Valentine and Romanelli districts.

Now Abnos has purchased the former Brandsmart building at 211 W. Gregory Blvd. He plans to convert the 20,000-square-foot building into seven retail spaces on the first floor. The second floor could be offices or condos. The purchase price was not disclosed.

“There are a lot of mismatched buildings in the area,â€

The environmental issue would stem from the former use as a paint store.  Abnos takes his time and generally waits until he has tenants signed on before he does much work but he generally really does a good job.

Wow - so 211 W. Gregory is a rundown area of town? Who knew?

Found this info at LoopNet.

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View Historical Sale Listing $750,000 ($37.50/SF)

Rare Brookside / Waldo opportunity. 14,000 sq. ft. first floor. 6,000 sq. ft. second floor. Great...

5/20/2010 Set Off-Market $750,000 ($37.50/SF)
1/26/2006 Set Off-Market $750,000 ($37.50/SF)
10/28/2005 Set Off-Market $750,000 ($37.50/SF)
12/22/2004 New Listing $750,000 ($37.50/SF)

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I'm not sure what the date change in 2010 means - Abdiana still owns it - but it isn't listed on their website. http://abdianaproperties.com/Home_Page.html