Owners of the French Market property at 95th and Metcalf will go before the Overland Park planning commission next month with preliminary plans for two projects that could signal the start of redevelopment for the now-vacant site.
LANE4 Property Group has filed requests for the consideration of permits necessary to build a car wash at 9301 Metcalf at the intersection of Metcalf and 93rd Street, which was a gas station for many years.
It has also filed a rezoning request that would allow for the operation of a senior living facility on the site. LANE4 made its intention to pursue that project, to be called Novel Place Independent Senior Living, last summer.
The future of other parts of the property, however, are still up in the air. LANE4 senior vice president Tom O’Leary said the company was still investigating whether other buildings on the property would be renovated for reuse or torn down for new development.
“We’d like to keep some of them if we can,” he said, noting that there had been a trend toward turning former auto service stations into bars and restaurants.
O’Leary said the company was hoping to hold a neighborhood meeting in the coming weeks to share information and get feedback about its plans for the vacant site.
The property had been part of the massive Central Square concept LANE4 and The Kroenke Group proposed for the 95th Street corridor in early 2015. But after the companies and the city failed to come to terms on aspects of the project, the developer shifted toward a Lowe’s-anchored retail project on the former Metcalf South Mall site.
“The retail environment is a lot different today than it was four years ago when we got started with all this,” O’Leary said.
Late last year, Overland Park city officials were reportedly discussing the possible purchase of at least part of the French Market property as the location for a new city hall in the future.
