Editor’s note: The original version of this story contained an error about the price per square foot of the land sale relative to the price assigned to the land in a previous, unsuccessful development proposal. The land was valued the same in both instances. It was not valued higher in this instance than with the previous proposal.
The Roeland Park City Council took another step this week toward a proposed $50-$75 million development for The Rocks site at 4800 W. Roe Blvd., where the city pool was located a few decades ago.
City sells land for $3.45 million: The council unanimously approved an agreement to sell about 6.6 acres of land to the developer, EPC Real Estate Group LLC of Overland Park, for $3.45 million, or $12 a square foot.
Project details for The Rocks site in Roeland Park
In late August, Austin Bradley, EPC’s executive vice president, updated the council on the company’s progress since the council approved entering a 90-day memorandum of understanding in July. Project plans call for the following components, according to Bradley’s presentation:
- About 280 apartments
- A two-story restaurant of up to 5,000 square feet, possibly with a rooftop patio
- Retail and commercial space
- A parking garage for the project’s residents that will be minimally visible
- A private-public plaza, which will be “really more of a beer garden environment,” according to Bradley
- Fitness facilities and other amenities
Project cost and timeline: The estimated project cost is now “trending towards the upper end” of the $50 million to $75 million range, Bradley said.
- The company hopes to start construction at The Rocks site in mid-2023 and finish the project about 20 months later.
- According to the land purchase agreement, Roeland Park can continue to use the site’s Public Works facility through Oct. 1, 2023. The agreement allows EPC a 90-day due diligence period by which the company must receive various approvals from the council, including for a development agreement
- Roeland Park has been actively seeking development agreements for The Rocks site since 2017.
What kind of apartments will be included? Bradley told the Shawnee Mission Post in late August that it was still too early in the process for him to have details on the ranges of apartment rents or sizes.
- The project sets aside some units as “affordable.” According to the land purchase agreement, that means a minimum of 5% of the project’s apartment units shall be set aside for renters making at or below 60% of the average median income in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
- The project also must have at least 3,500 square feet of retail space.
- EPC is the company behind The Locale project on Johnson Drive in Mission, the planned active living senior community on Shawnee Mission Park in Fairway and the Avenue 80, 81 and 82 projects in downtown Overland Park.
Jerry LaMartina is a freelance journalist who contributes frequently to the Shawnee Mission Post and other Kansas City-area publications. He can be reached at lamartina.jerry@gmail.com.
