This dilapidated plaza could get a $100M rebuild. What’s in Independence’s plan?
The City of Independence is finalizing plans to turn a decades-old dilapidated shopping plaza into a new retail center anchored by a grocery store -- and they’ve begun to solicit feedback as developers move toward breaking ground.
The Noland Fashion Square plaza sits on 32 acres at the intersection of US Hwy 40 and Noland Road. Its proposed $100 million redevelopment will include eleven separate projects, each of which can be completed on a different timeline as tax funding slowly flows into the district.
If approved, the square will be redeveloped by Tri-Land Properties, a private firm in the Chicago area that also redeveloped the Hub Shopping Center off of Route 291 in Independence.
Tri-Land has maintained an active presence in the region for about two decades and has been behind the redevelopment of more than 50 shopping plazas in multiple states, including Ten Quivira Plaza in Shawnee and Cherokee South Plaza in Overland Park. The company first submitted development plans to the city in September 2025.
The council kicked off a series of three public hearings this week on the ongoing development plans for the square. The Independence Chamber of Commerce was one of several municipal and business leadership groups to speak in favor of the proposed redevelopment Monday. Multiple Independence residents also attended the hearing, though public feedback was limited.
Jarvis Sackman, the Chamber’s Director of Business Retention & Expansion, said that Triland Properties’ previous work revitalizing the Hub Shopping Center “demonstrated a strong commitment to the Independence community,” including a willingness to engage directly with concerned residents.
“The redevelopment project represents a significant opportunity to transform a long-blighted property into a revitalized commercial destination that will generate new investment, improve infrastructure, and strengthen community confidence in this important area of Independence,” Sackman said.
Rebuilding the Fashion Square
The redevelopment area consists of three main buildings, along with eight lots owned by a private LLC managed by David Block of Block & Company, as well as four lots owned by other private landlords. Tri-Land has not yet finalized its purchase of the Fashion Square property from Block & Company, though the sellers will not be eligible for tax breaks given to the buyers.
Sackman said that the “largely vacant and underutilized” Fashion Square as it currently stands has posed a safety risk to nearby businesses and neighborhoods, along with slowing economic development in the area.
Independence Fire Chief James Walker said that the structures have also been the site of multiple fires in recent months and years, posing an additional risk to fire, police and emergency medical responders. The department has responded to 20 incidents on the square since January 2025, he said.
Community and Economic Development Director Tom Scannell said that two of the buildings on the square are currently tagged as dangerous.
However, in many cases, the existing structures can be repurposed for less than the cost of demolition and rebuild, Tri-Land President Richard F. Dube said. New elements of the refurbished buildings could include roofs, additional floors and external structures like loading docks.
Tri-Land also plans to add two entirely new buildings, plus eliminate awnings, add landscaping, replace parking lots and sidewalks and add LED signage, Dube said.
“There’s no mechanical systems left,” Dube said. “There’s no electrical systems left. There’s no plumbing left. But you end up with a structure series — what we call in the business, ‘the bones.’”
The Fashion Square consists of three main buildings but is currently considered blighted overall, with trees and greenery interrupting the structural integrity of some areas, said David Martin, the city’s bond and economic counsel. Each of the three main structures and the smaller outlying buildings will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to either be refurbished or demolished.
The anchoring building, which used to hold a Toys R Us, will likely become the new home of a Price Chopper grocery franchise, Martin said. The store will relocate from 42nd and Noland and is expected to open in late 2027. Developers expect, he said that having a grocery store anchoring the plaza will help attract other retailers.
The 42nd and Noland Price Chopper location will close in 2028 regardless, according to Dube.
If all the financial structures are approved by the city, construction is set to start on the revamped Fashion Square in 2027, the Kansas City Business Journal reported.
How much will the development project cost?
The total development cost for the project is expected to be around $100 million, though developers will benefit from about $2.5 million in tax breaks, Martin said. The project will be financed by Chapter 100 bonds, the same financial structure the city is currently using to fund the construction of a $150 billion AI data center. The city will hold ownership of the property and lease it back to the developer, in this case approving up to $75 million in bonds.
Martin said that the purpose of the Chapter 100 structure is to exempt developers from sales tax on construction materials purchased for the project. A similar financial structure was used to redevelop the Hub shopping center in recent years, Martin said.
“The comparison here was it’s the Hub deal, plus some additional incentives that were required by sort of the severity of dilapidation that exists within this particular redevelopment,” Martin said.
The project will also be funded through two separate 1% sales taxes and by the creation of a Tax Increment Financing District, an area funded by borrowing against future increases in property taxes. As commercial property taxes go up in the plaza, the city will collect the same rate of revenue, with the difference going to pay off development costs over the course of 23 years.
About half of the sales tax and TIF District collectively will be applied to reimburse the developer for about 49% of project costs, while the other half will be distributed to various taxing jurisdictions around Independence.
If the revenue collected for the project through municipal tax structures is not enough to cover ongoing construction costs, any debt incurred will fall on the developer and not the city, Martin said.
Two additional public hearings will take place before the city votes on the funding structure for the project, with the next reading and hearing set for June 1.
Feedback from city councilmembers
As they started preparing to cast their votes, city councilmembers expressed some wariness that the development project could fail despite its planned scope and expense.
Noland Fashion Square is about twice the size of The Hub, which has served in many ways as a model for the proposed future of the square.
Dube said that Tri-Land has had about a 95% success rate with the plazas it’s redeveloped, in terms of avoiding a backslide into blight. However, the fact that there are currently zero active retail spaces does make the project comparatively riskier, he said.
He acknowledged that it will be Tri-Land’s job to “convinc[e] others that with our track record, [the city] can invest in these bond issues.”
Councilmembers questioned whether Tri-Land intends to hold onto the property in the long term, and whether the development’s proximity to another grocery store - a Hy-Vee - could interrupt the flow of new traffic to the planned Price Chopper.
Dube, though, remained optimistic about the site’s future.
“The key is the supermarket,” Dube said. “That retail throughout this country has been extremely, extremely sought after.”
