Mission Gateway developers have turned down the city of Mission’s invitation to meet this week with the city council to discuss the future of the long-stalled project, angering city officials and further endangering the development’s future.
Mission Mayor Sollie Flora had called for Wednesday’s special work session after a New York bank sued earlier this month to foreclose on the partially finished property and a week after the city sent a notice of default to the developers, Aryeh Realty, seeking payment of nearly $450,000 in overdue local property taxes.
But according to a city statement Tuesday, Aryeh’s “attorney has communicated to the City that the developer will not be participating” in the Wednesday work session.
In response, Flora canceled the work session and issued a blistering statement directed at Aryeh.
“I cannot even begin to adequately convey my level of frustration with the developer’s failure to pay what our City is owed or its decision not to attend the meeting this week,” Flora said. “We expended tremendous effort last year working to negotiate an agreement which would give the developer the greatest chance of successfully completing the Gateway Project. To be advised of the foreclosure petition with no notice of the allegations therein and now to be told the developer will not even appear at a public meeting to account is beyond the pale.”
Aryeh still owes $447,900 in local taxes
- Aryeh has 60 days from when it receives the city’s notice of default, which was issued on May 15, to pay the late taxes or risk termination of the latest redevelopment agreement for the site, which was approved by the city council in January.
- In its statement Tuesday, the city said it had not yet received any indication whether Aryeh intended to pay its overdue taxes.
- Aryeh has been late on local property taxes in past years and ultimately paid, but company officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
Future of Mission Gateway agreement is in peril
- Flora made clear in her statement Tuesday that the city is prepared to terminate the current redevelopment agreement.
- “The clock is running … I can assure you that I will personally be unwilling to recommend or support any extensions or reconsiderations,” Flora said. “We’ve been more than reasonable and understanding over the years and it is now up to Aryeh to keep its end of the bargain. We’re well past the time for excuses from the developer.”
- In April, New York-based Metropolitan Commercial Bank sued Aryeh for delinquent mortgage payments, alleging the developer defaulted on its obligations on a $26 million loan beginning with a deferred interest payment of $340,000 that was due November 1, 2022.
The city has no easy options
- The 17-acre development at the confluence of Johnson Drive, Roe Avenue and Shawnee Mission Parkway is still privately owned and the “City’s options to force action on the site are limited,” according to the city’s statement Tuesday.
- “I know there are many residents and business who would like to see the City take over the property,” Flora said. “Unfortunately, there is not a viable path for the City to do so.”
- Still, Flora suggested much damage had already been done: “The developer’s blatant and continued disregard for the negative impact its handling of the Gateway site has had on our City’s reputation for more than 15 years shows an utter lack of care and is entirely unacceptable … The developer needs to make good on its promises and promptly right the Gateway Project or move on,” she said.
- The site remains inactive and vacant with an imposing white concrete building meant to be the entertainment complex, as well as a partially built parking structure and some concrete pilings jutting out of the muddy ground.
