More on the missed opportunity at Bannister Mall

This week’s Pitch feature describes the interest that a J.P. Morgan investment fund showed in redeveloping Bannister Mall at around the time the owners of the Kansas City Wizards were sewing up their deal to remake the site.

Managers of the Urban Renaissance Property Fund, which at the time was targeting “green” redevelopment in inner cities and inner-ring suburbs, visited Kansas City in 2007. By that time, the Wizards had built political support for replacing the mall and surrounding acreage with a soccer-oriented development.

Last week, the Wizards announced they were going to build in western Wyandotte County.

What kind of opportunity did south Kansas City miss? Charleston, South Carolina, may offer a guide.