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THE BRUSH CREEK BULLETIN Volume 5, Issue 9 October 2003   BRUSH CREEK CORRIDOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN LAUNCHED Exploring creation of a community improvement district or districts along the Brush Creek Corridor, attacking blight and promoting the Corridor as a location of choice are among the steps the Brush Creek Community Partners Board of Directors has identified to implement the Brush Creek Corridor Economic Development Plan recently completed by BCCP. Swope Community Builders will soon be building Blue Parkway Town Center along Blue Parkway just east of Elmwood. Plans for the development consist of commercial and retail uses, including a grocery store, offices and restaurants. The study area for the community-based planning initiative was 43rd Street on the north, Oak Street on the west, 55th Street on the south and Elmwood Avenue on the east. The plan studied the Corridor’s potential for new retail, office, institutional and entertainment and recreational development, including hotels and restaurants. Based on the geographic, demographic and economic data analyzed in the planning process, it is anticipated that the Corridor can support additional retail, restaurant and office space totaling 180,000 square feet. Economic Development Plan Findings Three catalyst projects were identified to fulfill the primary economic development objectives of the Brush Creek Corridor and achieve the greatest impact in its redevelopment: Cleaver II Boulevard and Troost Avenue. Generally defined as Brush Creek Boulevard on the north, Brush Creek on the South, Harrison Street on the west and The Paseo on the east, this project area represents an opportunity to create a unique, urban, mixed use development as well as establish a strong link along the Corridor moving eastward. The area has begun to see redevelopment with the Plaza East project south of Cleaver II Boulevard. Swope Parkway. The condition of the area between Bruce R. Watkins Drive and Cleveland Avenue on the south side of Brush Creek is considered a detriment to the entire Corridor and preparation of the site for development is a priority for the future economic development of the Corridor. The total site area of 44.1 acres can accommodate about 645,000 square feet of development offering opportunities for single-tenant institutional and office users. Blue Parkway Town Center. Located on the south side of Blue Parkway at Kensington, at the east end of the Corridor, Blue Parkway Town Center is nearing construction. The development, led by Swope Community Builders, will consist of retail, including a grocery store, restaurants and small offices. It will provide the necessary services to reach the market present at the east end of the Corridor. The "Brush Creek Corridor Econimc Development Plan" recognizes the success of the area at Cleaver II Boulevard and Troost Avenue as a retail and service center as vital to linking the Corridor from east to west. Most of this area is part of the Plaza East Development. Desirable projects for the Corridor include: The Irish Museum and Cultural Center. Led by the Irish Museum and Cultural Center organization, the group plans to build a center on parkland at Cleaver II Boulevard and Woodland Avenue just south of the creek. The 15,000 square-foot building, anticipated to cost $2.5 million, will house performance, exhibit and meeting facilities. Biotechnology Incubator. A biotechnology incubator within the Corridor would be ideally located given the proximity to research and educational facilities along Brush Creek and the community’s growing emphasis on building its life sciences and technology transfer capabilities. The economic base for the area indicates that an incubator facility of approximately 60,000 gross square feet could be supported. This delapidated structure along Swope Parkway at Prospect Avenue was among the blight participants in the economic development plan's creation felt strongly about removing from the Corridor in order to foster economic development. This building was taken down by the City of Kansas City earlier this year. The plan’s development was supported by contributions from BCCP members and grants from the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and the E.M. Kauffman Foundation. Brush Creek Community Partners Implementation The Brush Creek Community Partners Board of Directors has identified the following steps for BCCP to pursue in implementing the Brush Creek Corridor Economic Development Plan. Explore creation of a community improvement district or districts along the Brush Creek Corridor. Formalize BCCP’s role with the Tax Increment Financing Commission in serving as the convener of a constituent advisory group as provided for in the Brush Creek Corridor TIF plan. Its responsibilities would include: recommending use of TIF funds on Corridor improvements, providing plan review on plans and developments proposed for the Corridor, and ensuring appropriate communication between prospective developers with the community. Develop strategies and resources for land acquisition, clearance and environmental remediation in an area or areas in which existing blighted conditions impede the potential for attracting development. Support, as appropriate, the work of the Plaza East and Blue Parkway Town Center developers to advance their projects. Collaborate with appropriate business development agencies to create and execute proactive strategies to market the Brush Creek Corridor as a location of choice. Support, as appropriate, the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Commission’s and Department’s efforts to implement the Brush Creek Parkway Master Plan including the development of the Brush Creek Corridor Cultural Trail. Actively support strategies that will enhance neighborhood revitalization and housing improvements. Collaborate with other partners to determine ways in which Brush Creek and the Corridor community can celebrate and be celebrated.   LINDA HALL LIBRARY RECEIVES TELECOMMUNICATIONS COLLECTION The Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering, & Technology recently received a unique collection on telecommunications standards including a complete file of Communications Standards Review (CSR), in both print and electronic formats, plus a file of related standards committee documents. The CSR collection complements and extends the library’s ability to provide information on the process of developing standards. The collection has two components: Communications Standards Review, a journal that abstracts and references reports on standards committee works-in-progress, and an accompanying file of the full committee reports referenced by the journal. The committee reports provide detailed technical information on tests and discussions that influenced choices among alternative approaches in the course of bringing various standards to the marketplace. Together these records document the process of developing telecommunications standards for network access technology for wireless (1990 – 1996) and wireline (1990-2002) technologies including modems, facsimile, DSL receivers, structured cabling, and home gateways. The donation was made by from Ken Krechmer and Elaine Baskin of Palo Alto, California. All issues of CSR are accessible at no charge via the library’s online catalog, LEONARDO, at http://leonardo.lindahall.org. The Linda Hall Library, opened in 1946, is the world’s largest privately supported, public research library of science, engineering, and technology. The collection includes 45,000 serial titles, 1.9 million technical reports, 250,000 standards and specifications, and 60,000 conference proceedings. Located at 5109 Cherry Street, the library processes more than 100,000 requests annually to individuals throughout the world. PARTNER PROFILE Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City is a 582-bed tertiary care hospital offering many specialized programs and services, with a network of 550 physicians practicing in more than 56 medical specialties. The hospital is part of Saint Luke’s Health System, consisting of nine area hospitals and 14 primary care practices. Mission Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City is a not-for-profit tertiary referral center committed to the highest levels of excellence in providing health services to all patients in a caring environment. It is dedicated to medical research and education. As a member of Saint Luke’s Health System, it is committed to enhancing the physical, mental, and spiritual health of the communities it serves. Founded The hospital started in 1882 as a 50-bed institution at 10th and Campbell Streets in Kansas City. It moved to its present location at 4401 Wornall Road in 1923 with a six-story, 150-bed facility. Facts Saint Luke’s Hospital employs 2,416 people. The hospital had 19,013 inpatient admissions and 106,762 outpatient admissions last year (not counting emergency visits). 2,556 babies were born at the hospital last year. Saint Luke's College offers a bachelors of science in nursing. More than 3,500 have graduated from the program since 1903. The college recently moved from its Plaza location to 83rd Street and Ward Parkway. Saint Luke’s also offers continuing nursing education and accreditation. The hospital began a Clinical Pastoral Education Program in 1973. Saint Luke’s is a community player Saint Luke’s Hospital and Brush Creek Community Partners have learned and grown together over the past ten years. One lesson learned may be that there are things you do because you have to, and things you do because you can and you should. As Saint Luke’s prepares to grow with a $150 million capital expansion, hospital officials will seek not just reactions to plans, but proactive input from key stakeholders. This exchange through the year-old BCCP Plan Review Task Force is not necessary to approve the expansion, points out George Hayes, senior vice president and chief operating officer for the hospital. But for Saint Luke’s, it’s the right thing to do. Working with the task force is voluntary. However, along the Corridor, as part of its review and approval process, the city will look to see if an organization has talked with Brush Creek Community Partners, says BCCP Executive Director Carol Grimaldi. “In the past, we’ve taken expansion plans out for reaction, but now the formalized structure will give input and feedback that’s more inclusive, bring varied interests to the table and ensure we’re creating win-win solutions in the community,” BCCP board member Hayes adds. As seems appropriate for a hospital, Saint Luke’s is concerned with quality of life issues, such as neighborhood revitalization, schools, development — things on Brush Creek Community Partners’ agenda as well — and of course health care. “The New Saint Luke’s” long-term renovation plan is part of a vision to remain on the leading edge of Kansas City health care delivery and meet the needs of patients, physicians, and employees, according to G. Richard Hastings, hospital and Saint Luke’s Health System president and chief executive officer. The proposal will also make the hospital campus more efficient, more attractive, and better prepared to respond to future health care needs. The overall 20-year expansion plan is designed to create a new patient tower, improve intensive care unit facilities, expand the Mid America Heart Institute and the Mid America Brain and Stroke Institute, and new and expanded obstetric, perinatal, and neonatal services. In addition, the expansion will provide for new and expanded educational and clinic spaces, new parking facilities, green spaces, and a multi-story link between current and new patient facilities. The plan uses only the 17.2 acres already owned by Saint Luke’s, but eventually will close Wornall between 43rd and 45th streets, creating new traffic patterns. The new campus will have three entrances to the campus and multiple patient drop-off sites. With “The New Saint Luke’s” in the future, Hayes says today’s challenges include assuring adequate reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers. This is necessary to help offset the financial burden created by more patients who are not able to pay for their care, technology and pharmaceuticals costs, and a nationwide workforce and physician shortage. But they’ll overcome these to continue to meet the needs of a varied community. As a 22-year veteran with Saint Luke’s, Hayes has learned there are no slow days, no lack of challenges, things you have to do, and things you do because you can make a difference. And one of those is positive, proactive communications with the community. “This process allows us to serve as a role model to Kansas City, to create a public/private partnership with multiple interests and to work together toward common interests that enhance the vitality of the area,” said Hayes. SWOPE COMMUNITY BUILDERS RECOGNIZED WITH GOVERNOR'S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE Missouri Governor Bob Holden has honored Swope Community Builders (SCB) for its “tireless dedication to the cause of affordable housing.” SCB, Swope Community Enterprises’ community development corporation, received the Governor’s award for Excellence for its redevelopment of the Ridgeview Heights apartment complex. Formerly known as Boulevard Village, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development foreclosed on the blighted property near I-70 and Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard in 2000. SCB secured the property and funding from a variety of sources to complete the $13.7 million redevelopment of the 191-unit, multifamily community last year. “The success of Ridgeview Heights is an example of cooperation, of partnership, and the power of dedication and plain old hard work,” said Holden. “A substantial affordable housing asset has been preserved, and equally important, Ridgeview Heights is now a symbol of pride and progress for an improving neighborhood.” PARTNER UPDATE Research: KCCatalyst, Kauffman Foundation Collaborate on Research of KC Strategic Technology Assets. KCCatalyst and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation are collaborating on research, set to be released in early 2004, which will document the Kansas City bi-state region's current state of technology. The first part of this research project entails developing an Innovation Index, which will identify a range of metrics (e.g., high-tech employment, research, access to capital, and patenting) about Kansas City and a peer group of cities. These data will create a comparative benchmark with other communities to identify strengths and weaknesses and to promote growth of Kansas City's technology infrastructure. The second part of the research project will be development of an opportunity-capacity matrix that will identify technologies and industries for which Kansas City offers both high opportunities and high capacity. This part will include a detailed analysis of the bi-state region's capacity to conduct research and the commercialization of products that the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy has determined are drivers of innovation, such as the life sciences and technology. All told, the overall project will become the background material for the creation of a comprehensive Strategic Technology Plan for the bi-state region. This plan then will form an action-oriented technology and life sciences-focused economic development plan. UMKC’s SCE Targets Bioinformatics Research. It’s often noted Kansas City’s bi-state technology and life sciences initiatives are all about research and innovation. And it’s happening at UMKC’s School of Computing and Engineering (SCE). Several SCE students along with Assistant Professor Yugyung Lee and Professor Deep Medhi, who also heads SCE’s Division of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, are focusing research on building medical information systems. In conducting their research, the SCE team is collaborating with the Mid America Heart Institute in developing several medical information systems including the HL7 Message Listener (HLM) system and a cardiovascular metadata management system (which maps the Unified Medical Language System). The SCE team also has collaborated with researchers at UMKC’s School of Pharmacy and School of Nursing to develop data mining techniques in detecting and preventing medication-provider error. For more information about these projects, contact SCE’s Theresa Larson at larsont@umkc.edu. For more about SCE, click here: www.umkc.edu/sce. The Brush Creek Bulletin gratefully acknowledged the contributions of KCCatalyst Connections to this compilation of information that involves members of Brush Creek Community Partners.