New hope for controversial Johnson County development, but neighbors still fighting
Overland Park developers on Monday won a second chance at building a $55 million apartment complex at the Ranch Mart South shopping center — a controversial project that was at first unanimously rejected by the City Council.
EPC Real Estate Group is proposing the apartment complex, which will require redeveloping a strip of deteriorating duplexes and an existing parking structure at the shopping center, on the southeast corner of 95th Street and Mission Road. The Overland Park Planning Commission voted 7-3 to approve the rezoning for a scaled back version of the complex, which will now include 190 apartments, down from 210.
The new proposal will next go to the City Council for final approval on Jan. 11.
Developers made some changes to the project after the City Council sent it back to the drawing board in October. Many council members said they could not approve such a massive structure near a neighborhood made up of mostly ranch-style homes. Hundreds of nearby homeowners have opposed the project, arguing the apartments would cause more traffic congestion and alter the character of the neighborhood.
More than 100 red yard signs have popped up near the site, reading “Stop Ranch Mart high-rise apartments.”
Austin Bradley, vice president of development for EPC, said the team has attempted to meet residents’ demands, by reducing the height of the complex by 1.5 stories, to five at the highest point — which lowers the height by about 15 feet. Developers also agreed to add more space between the apartments and neighborhoods, plus push an internal roadway north by 30 feet to preserve trees and add more green space.
“There’s been so much attention given to the building itself, but if you back out and look at this on a much greater scale, we’re giving a key retail center new life. And we’re helping to make sure it can remain viable in the long-term. That’s why we’re all here,” Bradley said in an interview after the meeting.
He argued that the developers have reduced the size of the building as much as they can while ensuring it will still be financially viable. Bradley previously told The Star that if the City Council eventually approves the rezoning request, developers would likely later request tax incentives for the project.
“We absolutely cannot remove more floors,” he said.
“There are some significant costs to infill development, with demolishing the duplexes and burying power lines. And half of the parking garage is public, without a revenue-generating component to it. So you pull all that together and you can’t continue to whittle away at it,” he said. “You start to erode the integrity of the project and then you’re really left with nothing.”
But some neighbors considered the changes a half-measure. Eric Hernandez argued that the developer should have done more to reduce the size of the complex, especially for homeowners like himself, who would look up at the project from their backyards.
“Overland Park was and still is a city built on the bedrock of single-family homes,” Hernandez told the Planning Commission. “We acknowledge city leaders’ desire to build more density. But our desire to achieve that goal should not come at the expense of single-family residences.”
A few commissioners agreed that the developers could have done more to scale back the project. Commissioner Kip Strauss, for one, said he would approve the project if it was lowered to three stories tall, to better align with the height of the shopping complex.
Others, like Commissioner Mike Flanagan, disagreed. While he previously voted against the project, he said the new iteration was more appropriate for the area, and that adding buffering with mature trees would make the development more attractive for neighbors.
Bradley said the apartments will be advertised for older, but still active adults, ages 55 and up. He hopes to attract seniors to live in the area who could walk to the neighboring businesses, restaurants and Glenwood Arts movie theater.
Developers also want to turn the mostly unused first level of the Ranch Mart South building to be a 365-unit storage facility.
The project would sit on more than 11 acres at the center, which borders Leawood — home to Ranch Mart North —and sits kitty-corner to Prairie Village.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 5:04 PM.
