WESTSIDE HOUSING ORGANIZATION
Summer Charrette 2014
Westside Housing 4 About WHO 6 Site Context and History 10 Project Goals Team BNIM 14 Site Access and Connectivity 18 Development Opportunities 22 Site Plan and Elevations Team Boulevard 28 Site Access and Connectivity 30 Streetscape Opportunities 34 Site Plans and Elevations 34 EcoAbet 35 Special Consideration
WESTSIDE HOUSING IS ONE OF THE OLDEST AND MOST RESPECTED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS IN KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.
Summer Charrette 2014
ABOUT WESTSIDE HOUSING Westside Housing Organization, Inc. (WHO) is a private, not-for-profit corporation founded in 1973 by neighborhood residents who wanted the City to improve the physical conditions of their neighborhood and save houses from being torn down for highway construction. Today, Westside Housing is one of the oldest and most respected community development corporations (CDC) in Kansas City, Missouri. It is the only CDC in Kansas City, Missouri that includes a significant focus on serving the Latino community, advocating on a range of social, political and housing issues. Under the direction of a neighborhoodbased board of directors, Westside Housing Organization has had substantial success in reversing decades of disinvestment in residential neighborhoods, helping to strengthen related economic conditions in these communities.
Westside Housing leading a community meeting on 06/09/2014
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Summer Charrette 2014
SITE CONTEXT AND HISTORY
WDAF
I-35
Project Site
Southwest Boulevard
Dean Reality
SW Boulevard
The Westside South neighborhood was separated from Westside North by the construction of I-35 in the 1970s. Westside south is bound to the west by State Line Road, to the east by Southwest Traffic Way, to the north by 26th street, and to the south by 31st Street. The specific area of concentration for this project is 31st Street (on the south), 30th Street (on the north), Jarboe (on the east) and Mercier (on the west).
31st St.
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View looking South on Mercier
View looking Northeast on 31st Street
View looking Southwest at intersection of 30th and Jarboe
Summer Charrette 2014
Holly Street
West 29th Street
The homes in the area are smaller two and three bedroom bungalows. The neighborhood has rental properties, single family homes and industrial business as well as restaurants. Westside Housing currently owns the lots outlined in blue below.
Quality Refrigeration
Belleview Avenue
SITE CONTEXT AND HISTORY
Premier Packing Solutions
Jarboe Street
Terrace Street
Mercier Street
West 30th Street
Dog’s World
West 31st Street
Dean Realty Co.
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“OUR GOAL IS TO CREATE
POSSIBILITY FOR DEVELOPMENT IN THE WESTSIDE SOUTH NEIGHBORHOOD.”
Summer Charrette 2014
PROJECT GOALS On June 6th, Westside Housing Organization led a neighborhood brainstorming session to create an idea of the kinds of development the community would accept and reject in the specified lot. The community collectively came up with the following list of acceptable development, unacceptable development, and specific desires:
Acceptable Development:
Unacceptable Development:
Southend Desires:
·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ··
Senior living Park Single family homes Grocery store Professional building Student living Parking underneath Construction training + computer labs ·· Billboards for financial backing ·· Art space ·· ·· ·· ··
Parks (brings in strangers) Billboards for financial backing Industrial Liquor Store
·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ··
Improved sidewalks and curbs Tax Overlay district Reduced light pollution Small grocery or restaurant Reduced noise level from Railroad Watch 31st and Jarboe for dumping and keep it mowed ·· Dump trucks/ semis rerouted around neighborhoods
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TEAM BNIM Arpit Balhara//BNIM Beth Dawson//MARC Branden Vissat//BNIM Daniel Brown//BNIM Emily Thompson//BNIM Gunnar Hand//BNIM Joshua Boehm//BNIM Joshua Hemberger//BNIM Lauren Garrott//BNIM Samuel De Jong//BNIM Zach Flanders//BNIM
“Utilize integrated development
on 31st Street that includes multistory mixed use with residential and community-serving retail.�
SITE ACCESS AND CONNECTIVITY This area is currently isolated by topography, I-35, and Southwest Trafficway. However, future connectivity can be easily implemented with sidewalks, regional trail connections, and cycling accommodations. Additionally, the size of the site and the land adjacent to the site could enable the project to generate a center of gravity capable of anchoring the area. With a focus on community-based development, the proposed design implements a centrally-located neighborhood commons with strategic supporting programmatic spaces to act as a catalyst for future development of the proposed site.
Main Traffic Ways Main Entrances Minor Entrances Main Pedestrian Path Minor Pedestrian Path
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The incorporation of green space and trails into the site could be connected to the existing trail system in Kansas City.
SITE ACCESS AND CONNECTIVITY
31st Street as a Connector
Mercier Street as a Community emphasizer
30th Street as a family street Jarboe Street as a retail center
31st Street features retail on the first floor and residences above. Although there are currently no pedestrian facilities or transit along 31st Street, this project’s activation of 31st Street warrants a public investment in these resources to better connect the Southend neighborhood with the rest of the city. Mercier Street will provide programmed community spaces, terraced down in response to the change in topography. These spaces will include venues for job training in coordination with the nearby Penn Valley Community College, along with computer labs and art classrooms. These community venues not only respond to the needs of the surrounding community, but also fulfill the strategic goals of burgeoning communityoriented institutions like MCC. Above the community venues are multi-family housing with access to at-grade green roofs. Parking is located at the center of the site and covered by a green deck. It can be accessed through a covered driveway on Mercier Street. Infill of detached single family housing units and row homes, responding to existing single-family units on the site and across the street. 30th Street features community-oriented retail, including a small grocery market and cafe and supported by activity generated from the larger retail along 31st Street and programmed community spaces along Mercier. It also features a small health clinic that specializes in services to seniors.
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Possible view from Highway I-35
Possible view down 30th Street
DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES This site, located north of 31st Street between Jarboe and Mercier Streets provides living, working, retail, educational, and community opportunities. The Greater Downtown Area Plan designates this area as downtown residential on 31st Street transitioning to neighborhood residential on the north side of the site. Along this transition, there is also a steep change in topography as well. This change in topography presents many challenges to development, but it also presents a change to emphasize the environment and create a site specific design. The designation of downtown residential transitioning to neighborhood residential, along with the natural topography of the site, presents a major opportunity for development not only within the site, but within the entire Westside community.
Row Houses
Community
Mixed Use
Training Existing
A myriad of supplemental funding options are available to help realize this project, including various tax abatement programs, New Market Tax Credits, and Low Income Housing Tax Credits which could be appropriate given the size of this project.
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The existing topography has a steep slope from the South to North. This sloping landscape presents the opportunity to create a green common space for the block and surrounding community to take advantage of.
By providing a central space accessible by diverse users, this common green area will create a safe, celebrated space that nurtures community and creates connections.
The existing topography also presents the opportunity to create parking underground below the proposed green common space.
This emphasis on green space will also be expanded onto the buildings themselves in the form of green roofs.
DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES The central green commons can be accessed through the surrounding buildings, as well as through a central terraced walkway at the center of 30th Street. The green space features an amphitheater and band shell, trails, and a patio for the adjacent cafĂŠ.
Possible View West Along 31st Street
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Option One 1. Transit hub 2. Outdoor patio space 3. Amphitheater 4. Pedestrian arcade 5. Secondary outside spaces 6. Garage entry 7. Water retention/Trail system
1. 2.
2. 3.
5.
4.
5.
Option Two 1. Pedestrain entry/ Extension of Holly Street 2. Entry from transit hub 3. Transition from multi family to single family 4. New community center 5. Garage entry 6. Main green commons 7. Secondary spaces
SITE PLANS AND ELEVATIONS
2. 7.
7.
6.
3.
7.
5.
7. 1.
4.
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West Elevation
East Elevation
SITE PLANS AND ELEVATIONS
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TEAM BOULEVARD Ashley Sadowski//DRAW Architecture Brandi Purchas//Westside Housing Brittany Hodges//Gastinger Walker Harden Charles Gorugantula//MARC Chloe Lockman//Eco Abet Daniel Dermitzel//UMKC Eric Bunch//BikeWalk KC Eric Vaughan//BikeWalk KC Jake Wagner//UMKC Jesse Crupper//DRAW Architecture Josh Best//EDC
“We created greater connectivity by focusing on major barriers and replacing them with new amenities driven by a new investment in housing, community-based retail and education-oriented office and related space.�
SITE ACCESS AND CONNECTIVITY The team attempted to promote environmental connections by leaving existing forest and drainage systems intact, prioritizing flat areas for development and steep slopes for environmental amenities. Topographical conditions, as well as forested area shaped our sense of what spaces could most easily be developed with the least amount of grading. Bridges would connect the two areas of development and environment together with walkways to promote connectivity. A sense of community connection was also emphasized through multi-generational housing, community based retail, and multi-modal transportation.
Jarboe Street
30th Street
31st Street
Ideal development sites
Water Accumulation Major topological changes
Existing structures
Mercier Street
Program
Park/rec space Intergenerational housing Integrated open space Gardens/resting space Housing/student housing Arts/live work space Transportation connections
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Looking south on the corner of 30th and Jarboe
Looking northeast on 31st Street
STREETSCAPE OPPORTUNITIES
tB So
ut
hw es
5 3 I-
31st Street
Summit Street
ou lev ar d
The current site is not only isolated, but also a source of isolation or a barrier for the surrounding residential area. The Southend community has been heavily impacted by major infrastructure decisions and designs mostly due to transportation (highways and railroad). Most apparent, I35 cuts off the area from adjacent residential areas.
The BNSF Railway in the Westside is currently unused and collecting unwanted water. This is a possibility to create a “Greenway,� a connector for bikes and pedestrians, with an emphasis of green space, helping to reconnect the city grid and absorb rain water.
The creation of bike lanes on 30th and 31st Streets and the BNSF Railway would serve to connect the Westside community to the rest of Kansas City by diminishing barriers created by some of the current, surrounding streets.
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Looking east from the corner of 31st Street and Mercier
Looking south from the corner of 31st Street and Mercier
STREETSCAPE OPPORTUNITIES Based on the team’s research, the existing conditions on 31st Street suggest that a road diet is necessary. Less than 5,000 cars per day pass the site on 31st Street. By decreasing the street scape from four drive lanes to some sort of combination of drive and bike lanes, traffic could be calmed and it could create a safer neighborhood. Sidewalks on the north side are currently under development, and the community would benefit from adding bike lanes to this plan. Bike lanes could also connect the community to the rest of Kansas City.
Existing Conditions
10’
10’
10’
10’
Drive Lane Drive Lane Drive Lane Drive Lane
Option One
6’ 2’
Bike Lane
12’
Drive Lane
12’
Drive Lane
2’ 6’ Bike Lane
Option Two
6’ 2’
Bike Lane
10’
10’
Drive Lane Drive Lane
12’ Sharrow
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Jarboe
W 30th Street
4.
1.
3.
2.
Mercier
2. 5. Bus Stop W 31St Street
1. 1st fl: Housing
2nd & 3rd fl: Student Housing
2. 1st fl: Educational
2nd & 3rd fl: Multi-Generational Housing
3. 1st fl: Office
2nd & 3rd fl: Housing
4. 1st fl: Retail
2nd & 3rd fl: Housing
5. Office
Kansas City’s demographics show an emerging racial generation gap. We propose to bridge this gap by creating multigenerational connections through diverse housing options with an intergenerational housing focus. The community also expressed an interest in community based retail along 31st Street. This combination of intergenerational housing and retail could help to create a community center out of the isolated project site.
SITE PLANS AND ELEVATIONS
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10% of the World’s customers
90% of the World’s designers
90% of the World’s designers focus all of their effort on developing products and services exclusively for the richest 10% of the World’s customers -ADAPTED FROM PAUL POLAK, OUT OF POVERTY: WHEN TRADITIONAL APPROACHES FAIL
Summer Charrette 2014
ECOABET Eco Abet originated in 2010 as a 501(c)3, intent on providing every person access to design. Design that promotes a socially, economically, and environmentally healthy community. To provide this service to those who cannot afford it, we facilitate design charrettes that have three key deliverables:
1. Access to professional design services for community organizations. 2. Compelling visual media that help funders assess community projects’ merits, which may otherwise be difficult to visualize without Eco Abet’s services. 3. Professional development and volunteer opportunities for architects and other designers. With a design charrette, Eco Abet assists in initiating the first steps in a building project’s design process, in which a group of architects and designers provide solutions to a specific design concern. While the structure of a charrette can vary across the profession, we invite
the Kansas City design community (for one day) to offer their services and talents for free. These design participants are divided into groups and given a preselected project with which to design. This publication is a summary of one of three projects involved in our 2014 Summer Charrette.
Individual involvement takes place for a myriad of reasons. Between community organizations and the designers helping them envision and communicate their projects, relationships are being formed that give exposure to all stakeholders involved. Anyone who can bring resources to a project is invited to the table. All members are mutually benefited and the results of these projects ultimately assist the betterment of the overall community.
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Summer Charrette 2014
SPECIAL CONSIDERATION Team Sponsors:
Event Supporters:
·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ··
Morse Architectural Products Parisi Artisan Coffee Spin! Neopolitan Pizza Fervere Chez Elle Price Chopper Summit Architecture Katrina Elaine Photography
Event Partners:
·· KCDC ·· Women in Design
Board of Directors
·· ·· ·· ··
Amanda Drews Deacy Mary Sullivan Deacy Mary Anne Kapp Bill Reisler
Planning Committee
·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ··
Rachel Duncan Jesiy Brown Sara Wells Brittany Hodges Erin Hurd Beth Dawson Samantha McCloud Lindsay Nencheck Tiffany Hoffman
Publication Design & Editing:
·· Chloe Lockman ·· Culin Thompson ·· Angela Gunn
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