Tag Archives: the landing

First Impressions

The Landing

The Landing is a 1960’s era mall in Kansas City, Missouri. Located at the intersection of four major thoroughfares (Troost Avenue, Meyer Boulevard, The Paseo and 63rd Street), the Landing is still an active mall. However, none of the mall’s original tenants have a presence at the now thrift-centric and outdated shopping center. The building’s unique split-level, indoor/outdoor structure sees businesses facing the parking lot like a modern commercial strip and facing an interior hallway like a suburban mall.

The Landing’s logo proudly displayed along Troost Avenue in the 1960’s.
Source: Malls of America, 2006

The Landing’s location along 63rd Street is shown in the below map. What struck me the most was just how much the Landing, as well as the other commercial sites along the corridor, stand out among the sea of single-family homes West of the site. Furthermore, the extent to which these parcels of land and the surrounding grid of streets, break apart and become larger blocks with non-linear street patterns is striking. The Landing and the intersection of 63rd and Troost really is the beginning point of this transition.

Contrast in block sizes around the 63rd Street corridor.
Source: Jared Islas, 2019.

This point is further proven when looking at the area immediately surrounding the Landing. This reverse figure ground diagram below shows just how quickly the area transitions from a residential neighborhood to a ‘suburban’ retail experience. The diagram also shows how spread out the buildings are from one another and from their fronting streets and sidewalks. This area was obviously designed for the automobile and not the pedestrian, which makes sense considering the time period when the site was originally developed – the 1960’s.

Reverse figure ground diagram of the area.
Source: Jared Islas, 2019.

When we walked around the site, I noticed two different ways that The Landing appears from the sidewalk. The first, in my opinion, was more positive. When walking West on 63rd Street, you see a sign on the side of the building signifying that you’ve reached the shopping mall. By using the same font style that dates back to the mall’s opening in the 1960’s, the sign shows the mall’s historical significance. To me, the sign also gives the mall a sense of unity and identity. Together, these ideas give me a positive and inviting feeling.

View of The Landing on 63rd Street looking West.
Source: Jared Islas, 2019.

The next picture that I took shows a not so inviting view of the mall. Blocked by an inaccessible ramp, pedestrians walking along Troost Avenue have no easy way to get down onto the lower level of the mall. The view from Troost is also one that looks down into the site. From the sidewalk, you can see the vast parking lot and the tops of the buildings including all of the rooftop equipment. By simply cleaning up some of the overgrown brush, opening up the ramp and screening the rooftop equipment, The Landing could give pedestrians a much more intriguing entrance, similar to the one on the East end.

View of The Landing on Troost looking North.
Source: Jared Islas, 2019.

Despite the declining state of the mall from its original state, The Landing and its site do have a number of positives.

  • Location – bounded by four major thoroughfares
  • Parcel size – parcels of this size are hard to come by in the area. redevelopment opportunities are endless
  • Neighborhoods – surrounded by Citadel, Western 49-63, Blenheim and Morningside neighborhoods
  • Institutions – Hogan Preparatory Academy, Convent of Christ the King, Ewing Marion Kauffman School and various other hospitals and schools surround the site
  • Tenants – Cornbread Buffet opened in the mall in August 2018
  • History – Originally developed by JC Nichols in the 1960’s as a suburban shopping mall – one of the first of its kind

First Impressions

Standing at the landing

“One of Kansas City’s most identifiable locations” is now up for sale for just under $10 million. I am no realtor, but if I were, I’d agree with Block & Company Inc. The Landing Mall is an “excellent Midtown Center with easy access.” According to Emily Talen, a professor at the School of Geographical Sciences and School of Sustainability at Arizona State University, accessibility is 1 of the 5 key factors to having sustainable urban form. Located near the core of Kansas City, Missouri, is the Landing Mall. The Landing Mall has 8 entrances that are designated for consumer automobile interaction. (See figure 1.) I personally feel 8 curb cuts seem excessive for this area now, but in previous days, it may have been necessary.

Figure 1. Base map of the Landing Mall created by Cristina Aurich 01/2019

Figure 2. shows accessibility to an ADA ramp which leads to the lower level of the Landing Mall. Standing at the top of this ramp is a great view down on the Landing Mall. Currently this is a massive parking lot, with unattended potholes and little marking to direct traffic, but I envision looking down on functioning rooftops with green space and as little black asphalt as possible. Figure 2. also displays dead vines weaving through the fence. These dead vines replicate what the Landing Mall now, dead. Even though the Landing Mall is located at such as assessible and active location, on the corner of 63rd Street and Troost Avenue, there were few people using the space for its purpose, retail therapy.

Figure 2. Photo of fence on Troost Avenue looking down at the south parking lot of the Landing Mall taken by Cristina Aurich 01/2019

Known for its Noah’s Ark theme, the Landing Mall maintains features that allow one to reminisce on the past. Upon entering the Landing Mall consumers are greeting with a farm-like sent and painted cows sculptures reside in the lower level commons area. I was caught off guard by the foul scent once entering the mall and the sculptures of cows added to mismatch interior design features of the mall. Figure 3. the storefronts of some active businesses in the Landing Mall. From looking at previous historically photos, it is evident the Landing Mall was once a strip mall with an open space in the center. These service doors, seen in figure 3., still remain and added to my confusion of where the mall’s primary entrance was located. This figure likewise shows remnants of flourishing landscape, but it can be viewed as a positive to still see the straight line of trees lining the south side of the mall.

Figure 3. Photo of stores located on the south side of the Landing Mall taken by Cristina Aurich 01/2019

With time, and change of seasons, the vines on the fence and the trees lining the storefronts will continue to grow. They will bloom and thrive, as can the Landing Mall.