Editorial: New apartments will help boost Overland Park

Overland Park Mayor Carl Gerlach last week trotted out the kind of superlatives often seen in state of the city speeches.

He lauded the city for being one of only three dozen or so in the nation with a triple-A bond rating from multiple agencies. He commended a recent partnership with Merriam to reduce fire department expenses.

But one highlight, for those who want to see Overland Park continue to grow in population while offering different kinds of housing, came when Gerlach talked about planned development and redevelopment in the city.

Positively, that news extended to different parts of the city, including the downtown area. That news indicates there’s still healthy interest in the city’s core, not just in its outer reaches.

Among the projects Gerlach mentioned:

▪ Avenue 80, which could result in 200 apartments being built at 80th Street and Metcalf Avenue, near downtown.

▪ Central Square, just two miles down the road at 95th Street and Metcalf, which eventually could include apartments, restaurants and retail stores. Part of the site is occupied by the Metcalf South Shopping Center.

▪ BluHawk, at 159th Street and U.S. 69, which will include single-family homes and luxury apartments.

▪ CityPlace near College Boulevard and U.S. 69, a mixed-use project that could offer more than 1,000 apartments and some senior living units.

Overland Park is the second largest city in the metropolitan area, with just over 180,000 residents.

The city appears ready to take advantage of a trend among developers to build a lot more apartments, which will help it continue to strongly grow its population in the future.

This story was originally published March 10, 2015 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Editorial: New apartments will help boost Overland Park."