Olathe advances plans for new accessible theme park, hockey arena. See the renderings
After hang-ups over an additional gas station and convenience store, the Olathe City Council unanimously approved the zoning changes for a new ultra-accessible theme park and sports arena during its Jan. 7 meeting.
Behind the plan is Lamar Hunt Jr.’s company Loretto Properties, which he runs alongside his son-in-law James Arkell. Hunt Jr., son and namesake of Chiefs’ founder Lamar Hunt, also owns the Kansas City Mavericks hockey team.
“All of us at Loretto are excited about the progress we are making with the City of Olathe regarding our development,” Arkell, Loretto’s chief operating officer, told the Kansas City Star in an emailed statement. “We look forward to finishing the remaining steps and to breaking ground later this year.”
Originally zoned for mixed-use development, the City Council’s decision allows for the development of a $320 million entertainment district that will include the theme park, a 5,500-seat hockey arena and a six-story hotel with 160 rooms on a little more than 50 acres of land on the southwest corner of West 119th Street and Renner Boulevard.
Accompanying the main attractions include pedestrian paths that link the attractions together through The Commons, a “civic space” designed for outdoor events, according to the Planning Commission’s staff report. An additional 50 acres is slotted for retail, restaurants and medical offices.
“The City of Olathe looks forward to the continued progress toward an ultra-accessible theme park and one-of-a-kind destination for families and individuals of all abilities at Renner and 119th Street,” city spokesperson Cody Kennedy said in an email.
The theme park, Michael’s World, is in honor of Hunt Jr.’s grandson and Arkell’s son, Michael, who has a rare medical condition that requires him to be in a wheelchair. The team at Loretto Properties wanted to design a place where families with children who have disabilities could be together without limitations — pulling inspiration from Morgan’s Wonderland in San Antonio.
“I can’t wait for the day where I can… walk around with my son Michael and enjoy time together,” Arkell told the City Council during its Jan. 7 meeting.
Reservations over additions
In September, the City Council approved creating a sales tax revenue (STAR) bond district to support the development of entertainment and tourism attractions, like the one slotted for the Olathe Gateway.
During the Jan. 7 meeting, developers requested permission to add a convenience store and gas station on site. While STAR bonds are not slotted for the store and station’s development, it caused some council members to worry about how the addition would impact the project’s overall appearance and the surrounding convenience stores’ business.
“I appreciate the additional thought of the convenience store; convenience store is a nice word for a gas station and Quik Trip is a gas station,” Council member Dean Vakas said during the meeting. “Having a Quik Trip, no matter how nicely designed, just to me takes away everything you’ve been marketing now. I’m entering a gas station neighborhood in so many words.”
Mayor Pro Tem Marge Vogt agreed.
“You hopefully understand that we have a city to plan and we also have a vision and so all that has to all work together,” she said. “Do you feel based on what you said that this gas station and convenience store is a linchpin for the success of this project?”
Arkell responded by saying it’s not a linchpin, “but a pretty big bolt” to add some revenue to the pot as retail sees restrictions in its development.
“I’d hope you can look past a half-inch on a screen to the 64 acres that we are about to invest $300 million of our dollars to create something spectacular in your city,” Arkell said. “The state’s behind it, the county is behind it… we can’t continue to have restrictions.”
Justin Duff, vice president of VanTrust Development, added that the teams are seeing “a handful of title and use restrictions that are layered over the site,” and they are working with current land owners in order to have restrictions lifted.
“I think that’s where some of the frustration comes in, we have a considerable amount of legal [work] on a couple of different angles to solve for some of these restrictions, and so when we contemplate this type of investment, the challenges start to mount up,” Duff said.
Olathe City Council giving the greenlight on the convenience store would allow the developers to see if users would benefit from a convenience store in the Gateway.
“We just would like the chance to exercise the market on not only to your point, is it an appropriate use, [but] where is the most appropriate use, and where is the location, where are they willing to make the investment,” Duff said.
The city agreed, but the developers have to return to the dais with the convenience store and gas station for an additional approval before it can be built, and only one gas station can be built on the site.
“I don’t think anybody here is here to throw gravel in the path you are walking,” Council member Vakas said. “On the contrary, we are here to constructively help you pave that path and so these conversations — while they’re a little bit painful, they can be tedious, they can be aggravating — still, it’s all a part of the forward progress we are making and none of us should be afraid of coming back together and having these conversations.”
