Independence OKs financing to rebuild blighted plaza, says taxpayers not on hook
Following a series of public hearings, the city of Independence greenlit the first part of a financial plan to support the transformation and development of a decades-old dilapidated shopping plaza into a new retail center anchored by a grocery store.
The Independence City Council voted unanimously Monday night to approve the creation of a new tax increment financing, or TIF, district to fund up to $47 million of a proposed $100 million redevelopment of the Noland Fashion Square, a long-disused shopping center sitting on 32 acres at the intersection of U.S. Highway 40 and Noland Road. The plaza will further benefit from two separate 1% sales taxes.
City Council members also voted unanimously to issue an additional $75 million in industrial bonds to Tri-Land Properties, the Chicago-based developer which will rebuild the square, to jumpstart initial construction.
First impressions matter,” Independence Chamber of Commerce President Valerie Byrnes said Monday night. “The condition of this corridor influences how people perceive our community and more importantly impacts our ability to attract future investment.
Redeveloping this site sends a strong message that Independence is committed to reinvestment, growth, and creating quality places for businesses and families.”
Steps toward financing
TIF districts are funded by borrowing against future property taxes that are expected to come from new development. As the plaza generates new commercial property tax revenue, the difference will go toward paying off development costs over the course of 23 years.
Tri-Land Properties, the developer aiming to revamp the old shopping center, has maintained an active presence in the region for about two decades and was behind the rebuilding of the Hub shopping center in Independence, along with commercial plazas in Shawnee and Overland Park.
The company first submitted development plans for Noland Fashion Square to the city last year and expects to break ground on an extensive series of construction projects in 2027.
However, the city is holding off on approving contracts for all those planned projects for now. Mayor Kevin King said the City Council would discuss and vote on each contract as the plans and specific construction timelines become more concrete.
The proposed redevelopment will include 11 separate projects relying on different tax abatements, all of which are set to be revisited by the City Council as groundbreaking nears. The new plaza, previously anchored by a Toys R Us, will instead center on a Price Chopper.
“The development is not ready to start,” King said. “They have a letter of intent right now… When they start building, they can come in here and start the TIFs.”
“I recognize that this is a really complex incentive package,” Councilmember Heather Wiley said Monday night. “But I believe it represents a rare opportunity to rehabilitate an extremely dangerous and severely blighted area that has shown no improvement over the last 10 to 20 years. I also think city staff has pursued every available avenue.”
Development over demolition
The Independence Chamber of Commerce is among those who have shared support for the TIF, saying that the Fashion Square has “become a symbol of disinvestment rather than opportunity” in a high-traffic area of Independence.
“It’s a stigma we’ve been working so very hard to shed from our portfolio,” Byrnes said Monday night. “The development of this property represents a critical step toward reversing that trend.”
Councilmember Jennie Vaught said that despite ongoing questions, the site clearly demands city investment to give it new life.
“The fact is that this property has been vacant and deteriorating for years,” Vaught said. “This property has been marketed for years with little to no interest for redevelopment.”
Community Development Director Tom Scannell said that the dilapidated buildings on the property have received multiple complaints, with three tagged as dangerous buildings and one — the former Noland Fashion Cinema — almost demolished.
When the city issued demolition notice for the theater, the property’s owner took legal recourse, leading to negotiations between the city and the owner to bring the building back to safe shape instead, Scannell said. The city searched for a new developer at the time, but no one was interested, which Scannell attributed to high sale prices.
Now that a second search for investors has led to the deal with Tri-Land, Scannell said, the dangerous buildings cases against Noland Fashion Square properties are currently on hold. In the meantime, the city has invested in cleaning up trash around the site and boarding up the windows of the unsafe buildings.
Still, Tri-Land Properties President Richard Dube said, the general infrastructure of most buildings can be reused — a cost-saving factor for Tri-Land, which typically rebuilds commercial properties from the ground up.
Along with restabilizing and modernizing existing buildings, the developers plan to add two entirely new buildings, plus eliminate awnings, add landscaping, replace parking lots and sidewalks and add LED signage, Dube previously said.
“We’re looking at the bones of the real estate,” Dube said. “It’s as bad as I’ve ever seen, but there is a lot of value inside of that real estate.”
‘Our community deserves investment’
Residents seemed to show cautious optimism about the idea of a revitalized Fashion Square — but sought further reassurance from the city that they won’t be saddled with debt if the project falls apart.
Independence resident Danielle Dupree, who lives in the neighborhood nearby, said that the “consequences of blight and neglect” in the area have been severely disruptive to daily life. At one point, Dupree told the city council, she witnessed someone steal a purse outside of the shopping center and then flee into her neighborhood to avoid arrest.
Incidents beginning on the property have also spilled over into public parks and pools in Dupree’s area, she said.
“For years, our neighborhood has lived with the impact of vacant buildings, deteriorating properties, criminal activity, and public safety concerns that have spread beyond the property,” Dupree said. “...I support redevelopment because our neighborhood deserves relief. Our community deserves investment.”
Wes Epperson, a longtime community organizer who has chaired the Independence Street Improvement Oversight Committee for over a decade, said that he hopes the tax incentives that will fund the revitalization of the shopping center will prove worthwhile to the residents seeking a usable commercial corridor.
He’s hosted a monthly southwest Independence community meeting at a Mid-Continent Public Library Branch for about four years and said that concerns about the state of the Fashion Square have long been a topic of conversation.
Taxpayers won’t be on the hook
Some residents also pressed the City Council to have a stronger financial contingency plan if the approved development halts.
Similar TIF-supported development projects in the past have collapsed, leaving residents with an ongoing financial burden, said Oak Grove resident and retired Independence police officer Bob Sorenson.
Sorenson referenced a 2004 TIF-funded project in the Falls of Crackerneck Creek development in Independence. The district, which includes Bass Pro Shops, received $90 million in special obligations bonds but is widely considered to have failed at generating revenue, leaving residents on the hook for tax payments through 2045 while the city continues to grapple with lawsuits and financial disputes.
But Independence City Manager Troy Anderson said that the city will not have any remaining financial obligations at the end of the TIF term even if the site does not generate as much revenue as expected.
David Martin, the city’s bond and economic development counsel, said that the Noland Fashion Square TIF excludes the provision present in the Crackerneck Creek TIF that had created the debt residents are still seeing on that property.
The city’s contracts with Tri-Land would not allow for money to be pulled out of the city’s general fund to cover any unexpected debt, or for a development failure at the square to impact the city’s credit rating, Martin said.
“We changed that model,” Martin said.
