Roeland Park residents joined developers at City Hall Wednesday night to get a first look at conceptual renderings and ask questions about a proposed multi-use development on the site known as The Rocks.
Driving the news: Overland Park-based EPC Real Estate Group wants to build a 280-unit mixed-use apartment complex on the site at Roe Boulevard and 48th Street, which used to be home to the city pool decades ago.
Details: The proposed complex, which has a projected cost of $70 million, will feature 3,500 square feet for a restaurant and possibly an outdoor dining space, as well as a parking garage for residents and electric vehicle charging stations.
- Under the current plan, 5% of units are slated to be set aside as affordable.
What they’re saying: At a neighborhood meeting Wednesday, Roeland Park residents came to ask questions about the project.
- Bill Ahrens, a Roeland Park resident who used to be a member of the city planning commission, said he has been worried about the development possibly disrupting traffic, but has ben satisfied with the developers’ answers.
- Specifically, he said developers told him they would not cut through an existing median on Roe to make way for a driveway into the complex, allowing exiting cars to only be able to turn right.
- “I’d like to see it [the project] go forward, but I don’t want any corners cut because I want it to operate safely,” Ahrens said.
What else: Resident Dru Walstrom said he lives right off of Roe Boulevard and regularly drives by the long-stalled Mission Gateway project in neighboring Mission.
- Walstrom said he doesn’t want the development at The Rocks to go the same way, adding that he was happy with the plans EPC presented Wednesday.
- He’s says he’s most excited for a new restaurant.
- “That’s something Roeland Park doesn’t really have. We don’t have, like, a Peanut like down in Mission or we really don’t have like a local place to go,” said Walstrom.
Background: Plans have changed a few times for The Rocks.
- In 2018, after getting some initial interest from a developer, the city council dropped plans for a restaurant, hotel and adventure course on the site.
- Earlier this year, despite the city signing off on a land sale agreement, a plan with Sunflower Development Group also did not come to fruition.
What happens next for The Rocks?
Brendon O’Leary, executive vice president for EPC and a leader for the project, laid out next steps to the Shawnee Mission Post Via email.
- He said they hope to have gained city approval for a final development plan by the end of the year, with the aim of eventually starting construction by the middle of 2023.
- O’Leary said they are planning for a two-year construction period with the aim that the project would be complete by 2025.
Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga is a freelance reporter who frequently publishes stories for the Post, as well as other Kansas City area media outlets.
