Brookridge downscaling not enough for some Overland Park council members
Significant changes were made to the massive mixed-use redevelopment proposal to replace the Brookridge Country Club at 103rd Street and Antioch Road in Overland Park.
But, those changes weren’t enough to impress the Overland Park City Council at its meeting Monday evening but no action had been scheduled for the meeting and none was taken. The meeting was designed to see the developer’s changes and give guidance to the city staff.
The upscale urban village — proposed to replace the sprawling green golf course — would feature office space, retail, multi-family units, a movie theater, a 3,500-seat indoor performance venue and a hotel. It would also feature a large park along Indian Creek.
At the council’s request, developer Chris Curtin, of Curtin Property Company, scaled the project down a notch.
Residential units were reduced to 2,076 units from 2,326, the square footage of office space was taken down to 1.95 million from 2.2 million, and two residential buildings sitting near 103rd Street were reduced by one story.
Other changes include office buildings reduced to 10 stories from 12, an increased setback for two residential buildings facing 103rd Street, and more green space and landscaping, such as evergreen trees, placed along the 103rd Street frontage.
The changes eliminate around 550,000 square feet from the project.
After reviewing the changes, the council directed staff and the Curtin team to look into additional improvements, such as adding more landscaping and green space along 103rd Street, lessening the number of residential units, and possibly phasing the street improvements necessary for the project.
“Looking at the character of the surrounding neighborhood, it still seems incredibly dense to me at this point and time,” said Councilman Dan Stock. “I expected to see a lot less than 2,076 apartments. Generally, I think it’s too intense.”
Councilman David White was worried about the hundreds of residents living nearby who oppose the project.
“I have yet to communicate with anyone in the surrounding subdivisions who supports this project and that is a major concern,” he said. “We’re plopping something down in a residential area that is new and different, which we've never done north of I-435 before. To make it work, I’d prefer to see 103rd Sstreet have some sort of foliage buffer so residents can’t see anything on the other side.”
Other council members expressed concerns about storm water and traffic, although city staff insisted they wouldn’t be a problem.
The governing body’s dissatisfaction with the technical details seemed to exasperate Curtin.
He told the council members he was frustrated that they wanted to micromanage his project and he couldn’t understand why they didn’t trust city staff’s expert opinion that traffic wouldn’t be an issue.
His legal representative, John Petersen, pointed out that traffic might be lessened by a partnership in the works.
Curtin Property Group is in serious talks with the Shawnee Mission School District to use building space in the project to create a wellness center for students, which could include an aquatics facility with an Olympic size pool. Plus, the performing arts center would be utilized by the school district as well.
Several council members told Petersen they were intrigued by the idea, but wanted to see concrete details.
As they pondered the changes, the council members fell on different ends of the spectrum.
Councilman Paul Lyons declared he was supportive of the changes and saw them as a big improvement.
Meanwhile, Stock expressed concern that office space might not be developed for a very long time, leaving the area filled with apartments and empty space.
But Petersen dismissed that notion.
He told the council the project is incredibly important to the Curtin team. Millions of dollars have been spent and a year’s worth of hard work was put into every detail, he said.
The changes made were not simply taking a knife to the project to appease the council, he said, but were crafted with a real design plan.
He wants the community to see the redevelopment as an area of distinction, a project to make the entire city proud.
A public hearing on the project will be held at the city council meeting on Dec. 21.
Later in the meeting, the council approved a special use permit to allow the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center to be located in the former King Louie bowling alley and ice skating rink.
Uses for the building will include, but are not limited to, the Johnson County Museum, off-season production space for Theater in the Park, classes offered by the Johnson County Parks and Recreation District, advanced voting for the Johnson County Election Office, and a community gathering space for rent by the public.
Jennifer Bhargava: bhargava913@gmail.com
This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 10:24 AM with the headline "Brookridge downscaling not enough for some Overland Park council members."