The Country Club Plaza (often called The Plaza ) is a privately owned American shopping center in the Country Club District in Kansas City, Missouri.
The center consists of 18 separate buildings representing 804,000 square feet of retail space and 468,000 square meters of office space. The stand-alone buildings are built in typical Spanish Seville themes and are located in different blocks, mostly west of Main Street and mostly north of Brush Creek and blend in with the surrounding Country Club surroundings and this area is often called the "Plaza. "
It is the world's first shopping center designed to accommodate buyers who come by car. The 55-acre site (223,000 mÃ, 2) is about four miles (6.44 km) south of the city center, between 45 and 51 streets to the north and south and between Broadway and Madison Street to the east and west. The Kansas state line is one mile (1.6 km) to the west. Founded in 1922 by J. C. Nichols and architecturally designed after Seville, Spain, the Plaza consists of upscale retailers, restaurants, and entertainment venues, as well as offices. The neighborhood around the Plaza consists of upscale apartment buildings and luxury homes, especially in the Country Club District built along Ward Parkway on the south and southwest sides of the Plaza. The Country Club Plaza is named in the list of Project for Public Spaces' 60 of the Great Places of the World .
Video Country Club Plaza
Histori
The Country Club Plaza is named for the associated Country Club District, an environment developed by J.C. Nichols that surrounds Kansas City Country Club (now Loose Park). The city is located on the north end of Ward Parkway, a highway known for its wide and well-kept median filled with fountains and sculptures that cross the Country Club District. Nichols chose the location carefully to provide residents with a direct route to the Plaza with Ward Parkway.
Nichols began acquiring land for Plaza in 1907, in the Kansas City area which came to be known as Brush Creek Valley. When the plan was first announced, the project was nicknamed 'Nichols' Folly' because of a seemingly unwanted location; at that time, the only land developed in the Valley belongs to the State School (now the School of Pembroke Hill), and the rest is known for pig farms.
Nichols hired architect Edward Buehler Delk to design a new shopping district. The Plaza opened in 1923 for immediate success, and has been going on with a bit of a nuisance since that year. The new Urbanist land developer, Andres Duany, noted in Community Builder: The Life & amp; The Legacy of J.C. Nichols that Country Club Plaza has the longest life of any planned shopping center in world history. One of the oldest retailers is Jack Henry Clothing, founded in 1931.
During the first four decades, Plaza incorporates several high-end stores, such as Harzfeld's, with a mixture of more mid-level retailers such as Sears and Woolworth's, as well as quote companies like bowling, cinema, and grocery stores. shops to serve the daily needs of district residents. From about 1970, competition from more recent suburban shopping centers led management to position the Plaza with luxury hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, upscale restaurants and upscale retailers including Gucci, Polo Ralph Lauren, FAO Schwarz, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bally, and Swanson's. The luxury stores currently located at Country Club Plaza are Tiffany & amp; Co., St. John, Michael Kors, Kate Spade New York, Cole Haan and Eileen Fisher. On September 12, 1977, the great flood of Brush Creek caused severe damage to the Plaza and resulted in a number of deaths. Floods encourage massive renovation and revitalization of the area that allows it not only to survive but also to flourish.
In 1998, J.C. Nichols Company joins a real estate investment trust based on Raleigh, North Carolina, Highwoods Properties, which now runs Country Club Plaza.
On February 19, 2013, a huge explosion destroyed JJ's Restaurant in the Plaza. Believed to be caused by a gas leak, the explosion left at least one person dead and sixteen wounded. According to a statement from Missouri Gas Energy, contractors who do underground work crashed into the gas line. Witnesses have reported strong odor of natural gas in the area most of the afternoon. The initial explosion occurred shortly after 6 pm. and caused a four-alarm fire that caused the total destruction of the restaurant as well as damage to surrounding buildings. JJ returns in November 2014 to a new location, still in the Country Club Plaza area.
In 2016, Highwoods announced plans to sell retail complexes worth $ 660 million to a 50-50 joint venture of the Taubman Center and The Macerich Company.
On February 2, 2018, Nordstrom announced it would move from Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, Kansas to a new room at Country Club Plaza which is expected to open in 2021.
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Layout and use
The basic design of Country Club Plaza reflects the classical European influences, especially from Sevilla, Spain, but excludes the traditional open plaza. There are more than 30 mosaic statues, murals and mosaics on display in the area, as well as major architectural reproductions, such as the half-storey Giralda Tower of Seville. The Plaza also includes the reproduction of San Francisco's Path of Gold lights. Other artworks celebrate classical, natural, and American historical themes such as westward expansion, and a magnificent fountain featuring four horses raised on their hind legs, designed by Henri-LÃÆ' © at Grà © Ã… ©.
Although the Plaza is designed and built to accommodate visitors coming by car, unlike modern shopping malls with large parking lots: parking is hidden in the multilevel parking garage below and behind the shops, or on the rooftops.
The Plaza is also the first shopping center to use a rental percentage, in which the rental price is based on the percentage of gross income of the tenant. This concept is a novel when Nichols created it, but it is now a standard practice in commercial leases.
Some companies are based in the Country Club Plaza area, including American Century Investments, Russell Stover Candies, Inergy, and Gates Bar-B-Q.
Plaza Lights
In 1925, one strand of 16 colored lights was placed above the doorstep at Country Club Plaza to celebrate Christmas. The number of lights increases every year, inspiring the first official lighting ceremony in 1930. On Thanksgiving night, tens of thousands of people visited the Plaza for local entertainment/shows and watched the launch to start the Christmas season. A special guest or celebrity "flips the button" every year. In the 84th year (in 2013), the Country Club Plaza's "Seasons of Lights" is one of the city's oldest traditions. The lights are turned on at 6:54 pm on Thanksgiving and shine from 5 pm to 3 am every day until mid-January next year. One to two hour ceremonies are broadcast live on the KSHB station.
See also
- List of the largest shopping malls in the United States
- List of neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri
- List of shopping centers in the United States
References
External links
- countryclubplaza.com, the official shopping center website
- Country Club Plaza from Project for Public Spaces (PPS)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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