This 1940 photo of 100-106 West Armour shows the building as it looked then. A plan to tear down the building for parking has been put on hold as the owner and the city work on options for rehabbing this and adjoining buildings. Photo courtesy Kansas City Historic Preservation office.
There’s renewed optimism in Old Hyde Park that two properties on Armour Boulevard may be rehabbed instead of torn down to make room for parking.
MAC Properties, the owner of 100-118 West Armour Boulevard, notified the Old Hyde Park neighborhood in December 2012 that it planned to demolish one large and three smaller apartments in order to build a parking lot. But the company also said it would sell the properties to a developer who could find a way to reuse them.
The neighborhood immediately began working to find a developer, saying that losing any historic buildings on West Armour would destroy the streetscape of the broad street.
But now, a deal to save the buildings may be on the horizon.
The city’s Historic Preservation Commission yesterday canceled a field inspection of the property scheduled for Wednesday after the developer withdrew its application for demolition.
Peter Cassel, director of Community Development for the Silliman Group, the developer for MAC Properties, confirmed yesterday the properties have been taken off the market.
“Motivated by the strong desire of the neighbors to save the buildings and preserve the street front, we are working with City Council members and KC economic development staff to find a redevelopment solution for the buildings. While there are many details still to be worked out, we are hopeful we can find a solution and have withdrawn the application for demolition and taken the properties off the market,” Cassel said in a statement.
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