Mission Woods drops condemnation effort at 1968 Shawnee Mission Parkway

Mission Woods has backed off a proposal to condemn a vacant office building at 1968 Shawnee Mission Parkway and will let its owner move forward with a $1 million renovation plan.

The tiny community (population 180) in northeast Johnson County had begun the eminent domain process at the request of B.A. Karbank & Co., which owns office buildings on each side of the targeted property at 1900 and 2000 Shawnee Mission Parkway. Karbank is making a major reinvestment renovating those 1960s structures.

The owners of the 10,000-square-foot building and property it sits on at 1968 Shawnee Mission complained they had not been notified of the condemnation effort and asked the City Council to reject the idea.

On Tuesday, the Mission Woods City Council voted unanimously to table the condemnation plan and allow the owners of 1968 Shawnee Mission to move forward with renovating the property, which had been empty for 10 years.

“We’ll back off the condemnation process and let the owner of the building proceed with his plans for a renovation,” Mayor Robert Tietze said.

The building is owned by Pat Hayes, and the property is owned by the McTigue family.

“My folks will spend $1 million on a new facade, new mechanical and electrical, and update and modernize the building for occupancy,” said Spencer Thomson, the attorney representing the owners.

Mary Ann McTigue praised the council decision.

“I feel firmly we’re all on the same team and we all want a beautiful building that will be an asset to the city,” she said.

Work is expected to begin by late spring or early summer, depending on the town’s approval of the architectural plan.

Officials at Karbank, a longtime area commercial real estate firm, could not be reached for comment.

This story was originally published March 5, 2014 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Mission Woods drops condemnation effort at 1968 Shawnee Mission Parkway."