Developers of the highly-anticipated Merriam Grand Station project on the old Kmart site on Shawnee Mission Parkway want to add pick-up windows to some of the proposed restaurants.
A disgruntled Merriam City Council on Monday pushed back but ultimately ended up approving the changes to the plan, which now allows for more tenants but has also slightly shrunk the total square footage for restaurants and retail.
This comes nearly a year after the city council approved the $130 million redevelopment, which calls for apartments, restaurants, retail and a public gathering space.
The city council had initially expected a plan with five restaurants — with only one of those allowed a drive-thru lane. Ultimately, the plan was intended to establish Merriam Grand Station as a destination point in the city.
Instead, developers wanted the city’s approval to add two “pick-up” food windows at the buildings that are planned to be closest to the Shawnee Mission Parkway and Antioch Road intersection. The proposed restaurant with a drive-thru lane is also slotted for that same corner.
Despite several Merriam councilmembers expressing frustration with the changes to the plan, developers ultimately received a 7-1 approval. Councilmember Jacob Laha was the lone dissenting vote.
A pick-up window is similar to a drive-thru lane
- Bryan Dyer, community development director, told the city council that the two pick-up windows — which allow customers to order ahead and queue more quickly to grab their orders — would result in fewer cars stacking up compared to a drive-thru lane.
- However, some councilmembers didn’t see much of a difference and expressed their disliking at the in-and-out rush effect that both types of services could have on the development.
- An example of a pick-up window already in use in the city is at the new Chipotle across Shawnee Mission Parkway from Merriam Grand Station.
- Dave Olson, director of engineering and construction with Drake Development, said the project team is still planning to have two sit-down restaurants without pick-up windows.
There is also a change to the number of tenants
- The original plans called for Merriam Grand Station to have three stand-alone buildings with one tenant per building, all of which could become restaurants, with only one allowed a drive-thru lane.
- Developers instead want to remove one of the proposed buildings, then divide the two remaining buildings in half, creating space for four tenants total.
- The changes prompted the new rezoning request and preliminary development plan considered on Monday.
Councilmembers were frustrated with the changes
- Councilmember Jason Silvers said he does not think lines of cars in drive-thrus and pick-up lanes is what the city agreed to with the original plan.
- Councilmember Staci Chivetta said she’s frustrated that the plan calls for the backs of buildings to face Shawnee Mission Parkway, arguing it isn’t pedestrian friendly.
- “That’s just counterintuitive to everything we talked about while we were working on this agreement,” Chivetta said. “And three drive-thrus — whether they’re pick-up lanes or drive-thrus — is going to cause way more traffic and way more idling than we talked about in the beginning.”
What’s next:
- Olson shared a project update presentation with the city council on Monday that said construction of the apartments is currently underway.
- Construction of the restaurant sites is anticipated to start by Nov. 1.
- The restaurant tenants are expected to open in summer 2024, according to the project’s schedule.
- Olson said developers will come back to the city for approval of the design for each of the restaurants near the gathering space portion of the development.
The back story: Merriam Kmart redevelopment talks are underway again — Here’s how we got here
