Overland Park council advances five-story apartment, retail project in downtown

A modern, chic mixed-use building will soon be coming to downtown Overland Park.

At its meeting on Monday evening, the city council unanimously approved a “DFD Certificate of Conformity,” a type of zoning application, to allow the five-story building to be constructed on the southeast corner of 80th and Marty Streets. The council passed it without discussion.

The $39 million project, called The Vue, will feature 216 apartments, 10,000 square feet of retail, and a 324-space parking garage.

The council also approved a community improvement district (CID) for $460,180 for The Vue, which would impose an additional one-percent sales tax on retail within the project, to be effective on July 1, 2018.

In addition, the council approved $17.5 million in economic development revenue bonds for the purpose of obtaining sales tax exemption on construction materials and furnishings, fixtures and equipment.

The Vue is one of three new developments proposed for downtown Overland Park. Market Lofts, an $8.9 million mixed-use building, is proposed be built at 80th and Marty streets. It would feature 36 apartment units. And four-story InterUrban Lofts is planned for for the southwest corner of 79th and Conser streets; it would feature 41 residential units with 8,500 square feet of first-floor office space and a 53-space underground parking garage.

Later in the meeting, the council focused on Google Fiber.

The council unanimously approved four Google Fiber hut locations, with three of them being on city property.

The huts provide service to the backbone of the Google network. The hut is a pre-manufactured, self-contained building that is 11.5 feet by 28 feet and stands 10 feet, eight inches tall. Each hut will be enclosed by an 11-foot tall brick enclosure with a metal gate for access.

The three locations on city property will be located at Fire Station #2, 9500 W. 95^th St., the Fire Training Center, 12401 Hemlock St., and the Blue Valley Maintenance Division Facility, 6869 W. 153^rd St.

The fourth hut will be located on property owned by Water One at 6400 W.91^st St.

While Google Fiber is beginning its installation of its fiber network infrastructure throughout the city, the company has not yet given a date to Overland Park on when the high-speed fiber service will be available to residents.

Also at the meeting, the city congratulated its parks and recreation department on earning the Best of Aquatics 2015 award, which was presented by Aquatics International in recognition of the city’s new Lifeguard Management System.

Overland Park currently employs more than 300 seasonal pool personnel, 200 of which are lifeguards, across six outdoor pools.

To encourage and support the pool staff throughout the summer, the aquatics department created a motivational program last year that includes a theme for each season.

This past summer’s theme was “World Series” in honor of the 2014 Kansas City Royals’ making the championship series for the first time since 1985.

The program lasted 10 weeks, with staff members for each of the seven pools competing against each other to win prizes based on each week’s contests.

Prizes included pizza parties and drinks from Sonic.

“Being a lifeguard is a very tedious job and it is one of the most difficult part-time jobs in the city,” Tony Crosby, the city’s recreational services director, told the council. “You’re putting a 15 to 21 year old in a chair for several hours, asking them to be alert at all times and protect the safety of our citizens. This plan was a great way to get our staff to enjoy coming to work every day.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Overland Park council advances five-story apartment, retail project in downtown."