Brookside roundup: No streetcar, new landlord
A crowd that was gathered at a neighborhood meeting in Brookside last night was informed by Vince Gauthier, a BNIM planning director working with the streetcar advisory committee, that his committee would not recommend that the streetcar line expand south into the Brookside and Waldo neighborhoods. The committee will instead recommend expanding east – along Linwood and Independence avenues to Prospect – and south on Main, but only to the UMKC campus at 51st Street.
Debate over where the streetcar – whose initial line, between Union Station and the River Market, was approved in late 2012 – might expand has been the topic of much drama and debate of late. Opposition to a streetcar running through Brookside has been intensifying among residents of the neighborhood, with a Facebook group called Save the Trolley Trail recently emerging to fight the potential expansion. Their take:
We remain dedicated to preventing the streetcar from occupying any part of the Trolley Trail but now oppose expansion of the streetcar for other reasons such as: the special assessment of homes, businesses and non-profits located within 1/2 of either side of the streetcar tracks (wherever they are located); the 1% additional sales tax that will be levied in the entire Transportation Development District as well as the noise, vibration and visual disturbance that will be created for those closest in proximity to the track, to name a few.
Streetcar advocates took to Twitter to express their outrage about Brookside residents being insufficiently progressive. KCLightrail.com, the loudest advocate for the streetcar on social media, dutifully retweeted several. “Not surprised that the streetcar won’t be going to Brookside. Neighborhood has been getting older and more conservative for years,” went one. “No question to me that Brookside is the absolute worst area in KC after hearing the streetcar decision,” went another. Healthy dialogue, there.
Meanwhile, the Star is reporting that BKS Real Estate is set to transfer ownership of roughly 130,000 square feet in Brookside – including “most commercial properties north of 63rd Street from Main Street to Wornall Road, including Cosentino’s Market, the Roasterie Cafe and Julian restaurant, but not the Fiddly Fig building” – to First Washington Realty Inc. of Bethesda, Maryland. The company owns shopping centers in more than 20 other states across the country. The deal is expected to close in May.
