Plans are moving forward to redevelop the former Sears site at 97th and Metcalf in Overland Park into a new fitness club and retail center.
The Overland Park Planning Commission voted Monday to approve a revised preliminary development plan for the site now dubbed 97 Metcalf on the site of the old Metcalf South Shopping Center.
The plan includes 135,000 square feet of retail in 10 buildings
- This revised plan proposes a 93,000-square-foot Life Time athletic club on the eastern portion of the area, smaller than a 110,000-square-foot gym included in previous versions of the plan.
- To the south of the fitness facility would be an outdoor deck and pool area with four pickleball courts.
- The plan also includes a Texas Roadhouse restaurant at the corner of 97th and Metcalf, as well as a 5,000-square-foot QuikTrip just north of the steakhouse.
- An image of a Panera Bread was also included in the documents presented to the commission.
Neighbors expressed concerns about noise and lighting
- Mark Able, who represented the Nall Hills Homes Association, said he and other residents in the subdivision just to the east of the development had concerns about lighting.
- He also worried the gym’s outdoor pool area and pickleball courts, as well as an area for trash dumpsters in the northeast corner of the site, would produce too much noise.
- “Our neighborhood has dealt with Sears and Metcalf South going downhill for years and then being vacant,” Able said. “We want something in there more than anyone, but we want it to be something that doesn’t infringe upon the rights of the residents.”
The committee voted 9-1 to approve the 97 Metcalf plan
- While the committee unanimously agreed the project made sense for the old Metcalf South site, there was some disagreement about the placement of the pickleball courts.
- Commissioner Janie Thacker, the lone vote against the plan, opposed the project due to the proximity of the courts to the neighboring subdivision.
- Commissioner Ned Reitzes disagreed, saying “I play pickleball and I just don’t see that being disruptive here… I think it’s far enough away from the residences.”
- The revised preliminary development plan will have to come before the Overland Park City Council within the next few months to gain final approval.
Go deeper: Life Time health club replaces offices in revised plan for Overland Park Sears site
