South KC shopping center wants a makeover — and it wants consumers to chip in

Waldo’s Wornall Village Shopping Center is planning a $6 million-plus makeover with a little help from an extra sales tax.

The center, at 85th Street and Wornall Road, is home to a Price Chopper, several service businesses and a bar. But several spaces are dark, and a freestanding Church’s Chicken closed in early 2016.

Kansas City’s Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee has approved the Waldo 85th and Wornall Shopping Center Community Improvement District to help revitalize the center. The CID allows for a 1 percent sales tax for eligible purchases made in the district.

First, the strip mall would be redeveloped, with re-pavement and realignment of the parking lot, landscaped islands, wider entrances and new sidewalks.

Then the former Church’s Chicken building would be torn down, and a new 2,000-square-foot-plus building would go up on the northeast corner for a single tenant.

The center is owned by a subsidiary of the Tutera Group, which would put up about $4 million, according to its attorney, Mark Untersee. It also has signed a lease for the former Dairy Queen site at 434 W. 85th St. Plans show a freestanding building there closer to 85th Street, with a drive-thru.

Balls Food Stores, owners of the Price Chopper, would put up about $2 million to remodel and expand the store by about 6,000 square feet. It would then offer additional services such as a drive-thru pharmacy and more prepared food.

“It will be a modern grocery store,” Untersee said.

Officials with Balls Food Stores did not return phone calls.

In a statement, Councilman Scott Taylor said the “small CID” would only generate $150,000 per year: “This continues our effort in the last few years to renovate local neighborhood shopping centers. Families deserve to have the basic amenities near where they live.”

A neighborhood meeting to discuss the plan is scheduled for 10 a.m. Dec. 15 at the Armour Heights Baptist Church at 7900 Jarboe St.

But some residents have taken to such social media platforms as NextDoor to voice their concerns.

“Where do I sign up for a tax subsidy to help me improve my property?” said one Waldo resident.

Another woman commented that this is the second instance she knows of: “where property owners willfully neglect routine upkeep & maintenance to their properties and ask for ‘bailout.’ ”

Neighborhood associations also are concerned about a possible lack of oversight for the CID.

But Untersee said: “Our proposed board is made up of highly skilled people — a bank president, a lawyer — me, an accountant. All people very familiar with regulatory compliance and compliance reporting.”

According to the Kansas City Star archives, Safeway opened in the spot in early 1964. It converted to a Food Barn around 1990. Hen House relocated to the 8430 Wornall space by 1995, relocating from 8328 Wornall.

In mid-2012, Balls Food Store was looking at opening one of its Hen House Markets at 7618 Wyandotte St. in Waldo for an early 2014 opening. Residents wondered what that would mean for the Waldo Price Chopper, which had several years left on its lease, according to the Tutera Group.

The Waldo Hen House deal fell through, and Balls Food Stores concentrated on other store remodels, including its stores in Leawood and Prairie Village. Since 2013 the company has told customers it was evaluating options for its Waldo store, including an expansion.

In a brochure on Wornall Village Shopping Center, Tutera Group lists a population of nearly 90,000 people in a five-mile radius with an average household income of $80,052, based on 2006 estimates.