Board No More! New master plan for boarded up houses in Red Bridge area

By Don Bradley

A year ago, a developer’s plan for a luxury townhome community at 115th and Holmes Road got derailed when some property owners refused to sell.

Such as Pauline Dille. She was 82, had lived there a half-century and said she wasn’t going anywhere no matter the offer.

Now, the developer, IronDoor, is back with a new master plan for the south Kansas City location and if approved Pauline could be getting some neighbors.

All around her little white house.

IronDoor’s revised plan calls for three- and two-story red brick townhomes and single-family ranch homes between Holmes Road and Campbell Street, from 115th on the north to 117th on the south. The new version simply notches out the properties IronDoor could not acquire.

With the exception of three properties on the northeast corner, another near the southeast corner and one house facing Holmes (Dille’s), all other existing buildings in the bounded area, some already boarded up, will be removed.

The new plan calls for 2- and 4-unit townhomes to run the length of Holmes, with a cutout for Pauline Dille’s house, and through much of the interior which would have new streets. Units would also run on 115th and 117th. Four single-family homes and other townhomes would line Campbell.

In total, the plan calls for 39 four-unit buildings, 7 two-unit buildings and four single-family homes.

That’s 50 structures with 174 living units.

A swimming pool is planned for a location about where a now closed assisted living facility sits. The plan also includes greenspace, 200 parking spots and two stormwater detention units, one on Campbell toward the north end and the other at 117th and Holmes.

IronDoor is scheduled to meet with city planners next week for a project review and a public meeting in front of the City Plan Commission is set for 9 a.m. Nov. 6. Nearby residents will be notified.

Debbie Anderson, another carve-out who lives on Campbell, already knows what she thinks. She doesn’t like it and plans on being heard at the Plan Commission meeting. She knows something needs to be done with the site, but doesnt like the idea of tearing down perfectly good houses to build new ones. She thinks traffic could become an issue.

“And they’re going to cut down a lot of trees and I don’t like that,” Anderson said.

The site of the proposed development has long been troubling to the neighborhood. Red Bridge Shopping Center to the north has seen a recent resurgence with new businesses and restaurants, so no one was surprised when a developer came along with a plan for the targeted area.

But the initial plan ran into roadblocks over concerns about a lack of greenspace and play area for children. Property acquisition took too long, and squatters began to find shelter in the boarded-up homes.

As for Pauline Dille, now 84, the new plan calls for three townhome buildings on each side of her and a new street at the rear of her property, back where her grandson grows pumpkins.

Early Wednesday, she got her first peek at the new plan and its proximity to her house, both sides. She leaned close to the laptop, took a picture.

Does she like people?

She hesitated. “Sometimes,” she said.

But she seemed okay with the proposal. As long as she gets to stay put.

“I’ve got a full acre and I’m surrounded by trees.”