Drone video captures Metcalf South demolition

While Sears holds a store-closing sale next door, heavy equipment continues to rip into the former Metcalf South Shopping Center at 95th Street and Metcalf Avenue.

The Overland Park site is being readied for a Lowe’s Home Improvement Center by developers Lane4 Property Group and The Kroenke Group.

Demolition of the shopping mall is expected to continue through this month, paving the way for land, road and utility work to begin. Construction is slated to start in October on Lowe’s, the anchor store for a planned $180 million development of stores and offices.

The Sears building, although attached to the mall, is separately owned by Seritage, a real estate investment trust, and isn’t included in the Lane4 redevelopment plan.

But Lane4 principal Owen Buckley said Friday that his redevelopment plan, which calls for up to 14 buildings on the property, was designed “with flexibility so that our plan can meld with theirs or their plan can meld with ours.”

Seritage hasn’t yet announced its plan for the Sears side of the property.

Sears Holdings Corp. said last month that it will close the department store in mid-September. The nearby Sears Auto Center is scheduled to close later this month.

Lane4 is moving ahead with the submission of plans for two buildings in addition to the Lowe’s store. Both are 6,000-square-foot retail buildings that will front Metcalf. Buckley said he isn’t ready yet to announce tenants for those two buildings.

Crossland Construction is leading the demolition. No explosives are being used to bring down the 1967-era mall, which has been largely vacant since 2014.

A perimeter fence bars public access to the mall side of the property, but access to the Sears side remains open for the closing sale.

This story was originally published July 7, 2017 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Drone video captures Metcalf South demolition."