Great Mall site in Olathe passes hurdle, allows developer to ask for incentives
The proposed $271 million redevelopment of the former Great Mall of the Great Plains site in Olathe has taken its first formal step toward becoming reality.
The Olathe Planning Commission on Monday voted unanimously to pass a resolution finding that the developers’ preliminary plans for the property are consistent with the city’s Comprehensive Plan, a document that helps direct future development and that designates the area for mixed commercial and residential use.
The resolution, while not formally approving the project or any necessary rezoning, is a requirement before the developers, the Salt Lake City-based Woodbury Corporation, can apply for STAR bond financing from Kansas state officials.
Woodbury plans to request more than $69 million in incentives for the project, with the largest amount coming from STAR Bonds. These bonds allow developers to keep future sales taxes generated on the site to pay for certain development expenses.
In this case, Woodbury plans to use the bonds to build a 4,000-seat arena and ice skating center that would be home to an amateur hockey team and provide space for youth hockey tournaments, concerts and other events.
STAR bonds can be used only for projects that generate tourism, and Woodbury estimates the development will attract 1.7 million visitors a year, including 580,000 from outside the area.
Other incentives could include a special 1 percent community improvement district sales tax, tax increment financing and industrial revenue bonds.
The City Council must approve those other incentives, as well as the development itself. Council members are currently scheduled to hold a public hearing on the STAR bond request next month and vote on the development in December.
“We are on a bit of a timeline,” Korb Maxwell, an attorney representing Woodbury, told the commission. “We’re working aggressively with counsel and the staff to try to hopefully have this all tied up so that we could have approval before the end of the year.”
Besides the arena, Woodbury has said the project, called Mentum, will also include 250,000 square feet of entertainment, retail and restaurant space, two hotels, 300 apartment units and 200,000 square feet of office and medical office space.
“We are trying to create a sort of mixed-use environment that is live, work and play on this facility, exactly as the Comprehensive Plan calls for,” Maxwell said.
▪ In other business, the commission voted unanimously to recommend approval for rezoning almost 18 acres at the southwest corner of W. 167th Street and Mur-Len Road for the Boulder Creek Commercial project. Grata Development is proposing to build 90,300 square feet of commercial space on the site, including 12 retail buildings and three drive-thru restaurants.
The commission also voted 5-1 to recommend approval of redeveloping a 60,000-square-foot former Price Chopper grocery store on 5 acres at the southeast corner of W. 151st Street and Mur-Len Road into a Sutherland’s home improvement store. Commissioner Ryan Nelson voted against the project over concerns he had with the redeveloped building’s proposed design.
David Twiddy: dtwiddy913@gmail.com
This story was originally published October 23, 2018 at 11:13 AM with the headline "Great Mall site in Olathe passes hurdle, allows developer to ask for incentives."