@BlogKCSome recent business news from Westport continues to dispel the fear that the Power & Light District would kill Westport. P&L actually turned out to be a giant vacuum cleaner that sucked up all the duders, tanorexics, and striped shirts, leaving Westport to recreate itself as less of a party destination and more of a well-rounded urban neighborhood.
The Beer Kitchen has joined McCoy’s, The Foundry, and The Riot Room in an emerging beer culture cluster.
Blayney’s is being reborn as The Union of Westport, another neighborhoody bar built by and for Midtowners.
Two businesses have filled up much of the old Loma Vista Hardware building.
Art of Pizza’s second location is off to a great start and their neighbor Westport Cafe is thriving.
The Olive Cafe will soon push some positive activity northward along Broadway, bridging some of the void between The Gusto Lounge and Westport proper.
A wine bar is rumored for the south end of Penn Ave down by Shine Spa.
At this point there are only a few big opportunities left to seize, including the old Starbucks and Corner Restaurant spots on opposite corners of Westport and Broadway. And the old Chilli’s/Bagel & Bagel strip mall presents a tremendous mixed-use redevelopment opportunity.
Westport sucks. The foundry has the worse service of any place in town and it smells like dirty hipsters. It is an awesome place to go if you want to get stabbed, though.
McCoy’s has to fight people off with a stick so there’s your “Westport sucks”.
It can work. It needs help–and more businesses to come in, sure, but it can work.
Somebody with boodles of money needs to buy the old Corner Restaurant spot, update the building and reopen, in the same type of restaurant, with some old favorites and plenty of new recipes. I’m confident it would thrive.
But that’s me.
Yeah, Westport is not dead by any means but the Corner and the old Starbucks are two pretty high-profile vacancies. On the other end it’s too bad that all that ugly redevelopment effectively cuts the west part of westport off from the more vibrant eastern part.
Everything is a Business Model paradigm.
The Corner Restaurant has closed? Yikes! When did that happen? I’ve been away from KC lo, these seven years, and was thinking about the place this morning. Yeah, it’d be good to get something of the same in.
I tried the Olive Cafe and have to say it
s great. It will for sure make me visit Westport more often. Try the food. It is great!!