The Urban Event

Just attended our nieces New Years Eve wedding. This venue was a disaster from the start ! The elevator didn't work to get guest to the lower level reception. The entire building was freezing & the temp in the lower level never got above 64 degrees, pretty harsh when all your guest had to wear their coats all night long !The sleezy owner was present and was asked to turn up the heat and he said "tell everyone to wear their coats" He was rude and went around and even turned off the lights in part of the reception area leaving people sitting in the dark. Tables were not cleared after dinner and bathrooms were not maintained the entire evening. Please look beyond the view of the venue has to offer as it's not the place to share your big day, find other venues !!!

I was considering having my wedding reception at the Urban Event, but after meeting with the owners/coordinators, I knew I couldn't leave my big day in their hands. I was drawn to this space because of its charm and awesome view of downtown. I mean, it's absolutely beautiful. There's also a pretty sweet groom's suite for the guys (but nothing substantial for the ladies). When we met with the owners to view the space, they were both super frantic. Also, I'm almost certain they triple booked our appointment. There were couples everywhere and they were just standing around staring at us. It was so incredibly awkward. I asked them if we should come back another time. They said no, and the man kept saying, "I promise I'm not a rude man.". I don't believe that he is rude, but I do believe that he and his wife are highly disorganized. When we finally got to speak with the wife, she kept complaining that she hadn't eaten all day, and she felt sick. Because I felt so uncomfortable, I ended up asking her if there was anything I could do for her. Consumers should never feel this uncomfortable! I really hope this duo can get their stuff together, because this space has a lot of potential! In addition to this, it was really dirty. We noticed an embarrassing amount of dust in the vents, and you could tell they just don't take cleanliness seriously. I was really disappointed with the lack of attention to detail and the service we received, and I hope the husband-wife duo get their act together for the sake of this beautiful historic space!

It is a total shame that Chris and Nic own this building. The only reason they get 2 stars instead of 1 is because the event space, the building and the view are all incredible but the ownership is sleezy and horrible. I had my wedding there 6/12/15. From the starting line when I booked them things started going wrong. It just seemed like little mishaps and it was no big deal but more and more kept happening. 1. They were supposed to keep my deposit check for 30 days so I could change my mind on booking them, they deposited it approximately 4 days later. 2. I called to make an appointment to go up to the venue (at that time I lived about 40 minutes away) and see some of the things they offered for center pieces. When I spoke to Chris on the phone she said I didn't need an appointment and I could go up there anytime during normal business hours and see what they had. Well I got there and her husband Nic said that he wished he would have known that I was coming because we would have gotten the key to the room we needed to get in to. So that was a wasted trip due to a lack of communication. 3. When we were deciding on a Wedding venue we chose this one because there were a lot of perks. Wedding coordinator, and day of coordination and a lot of other promises that were not kept. Not once did we see a coordinator. We had a good friend step in and be our day of coordinator. 4. A week or so before the wedding we had a final meeting to discuss how our tables were going to be laid out and how we wanted linens to be, we got there for the rehearsal and nothing was right. We had to redo everything ourselves. 5. We got there the morning of the wedding and go into the bridal suite and it was so HOT. We were all sweating trying to get ready. Nic comes in and says "I wish I would have known you were coming. I would have turned on the air conditioner". Well everytime I was there we talked about using the bridal suite and wouldn't the owner just assume that a bride getting married there would use the bridal suite. 6. They told us that we could use the freight elevator to get things up to the 8th floor where our wedding was. When we tried to use it, it was full of construction equipment. Nic tried to get our groomsmen to clean it out before we could use it. Seriously? We are not cleaning up your stuff so we could use the elevator like you said we could. 7. My husband and the groomsmen were trying to get to the roof for pictures before the wedding and they were coming from the 3rd floor going to the roof (which would be the 9th floor) Nic did not want them to take the elevator because all of our wedding guests were arriving. He told them to climb 6 flights of stairs in suits because the elevator was full. That is absolutely ridiculous. My dad ended up getting in on it and saying that the groom was more important than the guests and he gets priority. As a wedding vendor, I don't know how you can think the guests are more important. 8. One last thing, we were told multiple times that there was a back elevator. My plan from the beginning was the make my grand entrance coming down the stairs from the roof into the wedding space. Well about 2 hours before the wedding they said that was not true and the only way to get up there was from the stairs that I was planning on walking down. Well once our guests arrived that was not going to work. So because they continually lied and were horrible with communication I stood on the roof for over an hour so I could make my grand entrance. Once again, our wedding was AMAZING because of all the hard work my family and friends and I put in. It was because of NOTHING they did. They lied so many times and changed their story so many times. They did not communicate at all. Thankfully I had everything together to make it a perfect day.

Brides, if you're looking to trust your wedding in the hands of a venue to help get things in order, this is not the place. I am getting married in two months and we had to change venue due to the unprofessional and unreliable owner Nicholas. It was a struggle to work with Nicholas from the very start and we should have taken this as a sign that it wasn't going to work out but I had hoped it would. When we first looked at the venue, we had a some concerns and questions so we asked about these following requirements: we asked about parking, he said we can park in the parking lot adjacent to the building, the service elevator works and we can use it for catering, and the caterer can cook outside in the back of the building because we wanted to make sure the food was fresh for our guests. After we signed the contract, come to find out we are not allowed to park in the parking lot because they do not own it. We decided to stay with them just because thought it could work out. After a few months there was another wedding that cooked their food outside mid October 2014. Soon after, Nicholas tells us during another walk through that we aren't allowed to cook outside because" the food stinks" and" we can go find another venue and get our deposit back" Given, I was very livid and it was 7 months till my wedding. I even went to search for a new venue and most venues are booked a year in advance. The emotional stress that I went through should have never happened but Nicholas is a hard man to work and is irrational and will not listen to anyone but his own voice. I felt like Nicholas is a dishonest man, he lured us in saying how great everything is and lied to us saying we could do what we asked or what he told us we can do and then changed his mind telling us we can't every time my wedding planner speaks to him. The last straw was when we had a few of our vender's meet us there to finalize some details and they even saw how unprofessional and rude he is. He told us the service elevator doesn't work and we can't use it. That was not going to work because they only have one elevator and that was supposed to be used by guests. It would have not worked out due to their elevator being small and prior to our meeting; they were also forced by the City to have their main elevator be fixed because it kept breaking down constantly. Trust me when I say, you don't want it breaking down the day of your wedding if it's on the 8th floor. We have walked up the flights of stairs to the 8th floor and it would not be easy for the elders or if someone was handicapped. And the photo booth was provided by Urban Event and it was sitting on the 1st floor, so if the service elevator was broken then how were they going to bring it up to the 8th floor? Tell us last min we can't use it? There was too many unknowns and we are not comfortable to trust their management with our wedding. After my wedding planner explained everything to Chris who handles their accounts, she sympathizes with us but we still didn't get our deposit back after all the stressed they caused us. Why would we choose to leave a venue 60 days before our wedding? We felt that Nicholas wasn't willing to work with us and the emotional stress that he caused for me and my fiancé was not worth it. BRIDES DO NOT BOOK YOUR WEDDING AT THEIR VENUE. Please read other reviews as other Brides and Groom faced the same problem on their wedding day. I wish I followed my intuition and went with another venue a year ago.Check out this news station that did an investigation on them due to their lack of professionalism:http://www.kctv5.com/story/28984907/unsafe-conditions-violations-uncovered-at-popular-kansas-city-event-space

DO NOT RENT THIS SPACE! Pictures coming. In short:My daughter's wedding was delayed 1 hour or more due to a ceiling leak, that started out as a drip, then a full flow of water. We had a yellow bucket in our photos where the bridesmaids were standing. Our guest on the front row had to move because the ceiling paint started falling at their feet. Our D.J. lost a speaker and microphone, due to the water.It was 97 plus degrees outside, we had no air! They indicated that it was due to the doors opening and closing. If that's the case why didn't you mention that in the meeting before you took the money!? There were two events on the same day. One elevator that took 8 minutes to come to the ground floor. Now with two parties a delayed event on the first floor, and one entrance about 6X6, how do you think that went!! Our photos were delayed because we were told we had to wait for the other party to take their photos on the rooftop! There were leaks in both bathrooms on the first floor and second floor, one of which was leaking on our guests. Bathroom floors were flooded, which means bathrooms became unavailable for use.The kitchen was deplorable!!! Our caterer had to come in and try and clean as best he could. Keep in mind he didn't come with mops and brooms, he came to serve our guests!! There were no clean plates available. That caused another delay. They had to send someone to our floor to WASH dishes, while our guests were seated, so that our guests could begin to the buffet!!!The floors and refrigerators were filthy! The caterer did not want to use their facilities for fear someone would become ill!!! The caterer and my son posted photos to their website and they took them down! Trust we'll get them back up shortly! This is just one day of complaints. This began from the very beginning. These people, Nicholas and Christina Abnos, are horrible, rude and condescending!!! I will be writing to BBB, BCP, Consumer Response Center, and Health Department!!!!YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

This is by far one of the worst Venues ever! Last Saturday May 26th I catered a wedding here. It was a disaster from start to finish. The reception took place in the basement of the facility. There was only one working bathroom for the ladies and it was filthy. One stall was not in working order. There was dried feces on the working toilet and the sink was dirty as well. That's just the beginning. When my staff approached the kitchen to start getting things setup we were horrified to the find the kitchen a complete mess. It was filthy. Dirty dishes with dried food dirty linens thrown on the floor along with dirty towels broken glass and dirty dishes in the sinks which was not clean. There was a leaking pipe that flooded the dirty nasty floor. Floor looked as if it is never mopped. The countertops where food prep occurs was also very unclean with dried food and dirty dishes. My crew literally had to clean the facility before we could start our work. Thank goodness we have our own kitchen in the City Market and did not have to use this place to prepare any of the food we were serving. The next fiasco happened when it was time to serve the meal. The venue had not put out any plates for the bridal party and their 265 guest. Place setting was the venue's responsibility. The water glasses had been sitting on the tables for hours and some of those glasses were dirty and were cleaned with a towel by their staff that I know I used to clean the sinks. By the way they had no clean towels so the used mines. I literally had to track down one of the owners Chris to complain about the condition of the facility and the lack is service that my clients had received. She refused to leave the eighth floor to see what was taking place and sent one of her associates. Later the owner Nick came in and actually walked into the kitchen. He was not the least bit phased by what he witnessed. Later I told the owner Nick the place is a dump. His response to me was "well don't come back"! It was almost 45 minutes to an hour before the venue decided to provide plates so the meal could be served. But it gets even better, the plates weren't clean some were mildewed some were chipped some were just plain dirty. We then had to wait while they scrambled to get plates through the dish washer that an employee of the venue later said didn't have hot water. The person who was in charge of the crew who was staffed to bus and clear the tables was rude and unsympathetic to all of the issues taking place. The refrigerator was filthy with splattered food and mold. The bathroom that I mentioned earlier well the toilet overflowed as we were finally getting our guest served. Flowed out from the bathroom into the ballroom where guest were walking and eating. No one did anything about it. All I wanted to do was to get the heck out of there. I felt really bad for my client and their guest. Many of the guest left before dinner was served because of all of the chaos. Here are some pictures to backup my review. Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures of the kitchen before we cleaned up the mess we first encountered. I don't recommend this place to anyone.

This place has potential but only if it were run by different people. Nicolas is the most deplorable person in the world. I'm not even going to talk about the months leading up to the event. I'll talk about my actual wedding. Right before our 3rd floor ceremony started the elevator broke. Our 86 year old grandma had to be escorted up the stairs. Her brother never saw the ceremony because he wasn't physically capable. Then the reception, on the 8th floor, he told our guests to take the stairs. 5 flights!!! A lot of our friends are in good shape but 5 flights?!? In heels??? The elevator was fixed at this point but he was reserving it for elderly people. As if a now fully working elevator couldn't transport everyone. Then he told some of our guests we were supposed to be out by 10:30. We had a contract saying we had the space till 1A. We were planning on going until 11:30-12 and just as the party was really picking up, he shut it down. The icing on this cake was when he had the audacity to say to me "do you know how embarrassing it is to have a wedding and the elevator breaks down?" To which I responded, "yes, thanks to you I do!" And then I, the bride took the stairs down. This elevator thing by the way was an issue in April and the city had to come, shut him down, and only re-open once the elevator was fixed and up to code. So someone didn't do their job right. So much potential. Such a lovely place with lovely aesthetics and views but the owner will make you so embarrassed to have had your event there!

We used The Urban event for a wedding reception. When signing the contract, Chris assured us that we did not need a wedding planner for the day as she would coordinate everything. She did not show up for our final meeting nor call us to tell us she wouldn't be there. (Her husband came) The elevator was not working and we had to walk up 8 flights of stairs. They said it was undergoing routine inspection and would be working the next day. We stopped by two days later and still was not operational. After checking with the city elevator inspector, we learned that building had 22 code violations and had another inspection scheduled the next week, 1 1/2 weeks before the wedding. They did pass inspection on 20 of the 22 violations and received a two week full operations permit until the next reinspection. Now, on the wedding date, when I arrived at 4:00 for a 5:30 reception, the bathrooms were dirty and needed toilet paper and paper towels. The bathroom on the third floor to be used by the bridal party was filthy without toilet paper and paper towels as well. I saw Chris twice and she didn't speak to me. THE ELEVATOR BROKE DOWN AS GUESTS WERE ARRIVING! I would estimate that over 100 or my guests as well as the bridal party had to walk the 8 flights up. Our 90 year old aunt and uncle never made it up as well and went home. SOME OF OUR GUESTS HAD TO EVACUATE THE ELEVATOR THROUGH THE CEILING. Nicholas, the owner, called for elevator repair and it was back in service after a couple of hours. I spent the first hour of the party apologizing to guests who walked up the stairs instead of visiting with friends and family. I sent an email to Chris and Nicholas on the following Monday, with a follow up email on Wednesday and then Friday.I received a phone call after I asked them to reply by 5:00 pm that Friday. I asked for financial reimbursement and after offering free venue rental in 5 years or a free lunch, he did offer $1000.00 refund which I accepted. The venue is very cool with a spectacular view of downtown. It is a shame that the owners do not keep the elevator operational or the building up to code. Renting the venue without regard for the safety of their guests is unacceptable. I cannot recommend use of this venue for a reception. Our awesome vendors made the party successful, NOT The Urban Event Center!

As event coordinators ourselves, my husband and I were looking for specific qualities in a wedding and reception venue, as well as the staff that came with it. We could not have found a more perfect fit than the Historic Firestone Building, owner Chris, and her entire staff. Chris went above and beyond for us, as we were planning our KC wedding from out of state. She was extremely attentive and such a joy to meet with when in town. The day of the wedding, I truly did not have to think about one single thing. Every single detail was effortlessly taken care of behind-scenes and I was able to enjoy 100% of the day! Beyond that, the venue is just hands-down beautiful! Urban loft environment, 360 degree window view of the city, untouched raw walls, chandeliers... Gorgeous. I wish I could throw parties here every weekend. Thank you, Chris & staff, for making my dream wedding come true!

1 star is too high for this venue. Actually, the venue is beautiful, it's the owners that are the sham artists. They should be run out of town and not allowed to conduct business with anyone. The 3rd floor does not have a permit of occupancy (Per KCMO Code Inspectors) yet they continue to hold events on that floor and charge for those events. The roof top is structurally unsound (Per the KCMO Codes Inspector) and is only permitted (recently) to hold a max of 10 people in a designated area, yet we had upwards of 50 people at any given time on the roof. DO NOT USE THIS VENUE, IF YOU'RE ALREADY LOCKED IN, GET AN ATTORNEY and GET OUT!!!!