A local developer is asking for public tax incentives to help pay for upgrades to the Merriam Town Center shopping complex.
R.H. Johnson Company, the Kansas City-based real estate company that owns the shopping center at Antioch Road and Johnson Drive, is seeking the creation of a community improvement district to refurbish the complex.
It is also seeking industrial revenue bonds for the project.
This comes as the city council is in the middle of discussing its vision for a broader community improvement district policy, which Merriam currently lacks.
A community improvement district is when an additional sales tax, typically 1%, is imposed on purchases within a defined project area to help pay for that project or work done inside it.
Developers want a one-cent sales tax
The community improvement district application, obtained by the Post through a public records request, outlines a number of estimated project costs totaling $80 million.
Of that, a community improvement district tax would cover an estimated $11 million, according to R.H. Johnson’s application.
The company’s proposed upgrades include:
- Nearly $53 million for land acquisition
- Building upgrades, including $3.6 million for the Dick’s Sporting Goods and $3 million for the Cinemark movie theater
- Public improvements totaling $2.6 million, including a new bus stop, sidewalks and signage
- Almost $5 million for site improvements, including a green space and parking lot upgrades
- Another $8 million for “buildings,” and the application later states “the future development of four retail/restaurant pad sites” are possible
Money taken in from the added community improvement financing district tax would be used for landscaping, lighting, outdoor gathering areas, new retail spaces and improvements to existing vacancies, according to the application.
“The extensive improvements will improve the sustainability of the center however will not result in a greater return on investment,” the application reads. “Without [community improvement district] assistance through a 1 cent sales tax, the scope of improvements cannot be attained.”
A copy of the application is embedded below.
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Open in new tab Merriam OKs a funding agreement with R.H Johnson
- Last week, the Merriam City Council by a 7-1 vote approved a funding agreement with subsidiaries of R.H. Johnson, with Councilmember Jason Silvers voting in opposition.
- The agreement allows the developer to give the city $30,000 for any payments for consultant or legal fees acquired as Merriam looks into the request for incentives.
- The city is still currently under no obligation to approve incentives going forward.
- “All you’re agreeing to with this item is to take $30,000 of someone’s money and start paying people to look at their application,” City Administrator Chris Engel told the city council on Monday, Oct. 9.
City council discusses vision for a policy
- Last month, the city council discussed the creation of a broader community improvement district policy.
- Councilmember Bruce Kaldahl said during the council meeting on Sept. 11 that there was a shopping center at that time that could need a facelift in the near future, a seeming reference to Merriam Town Center.
- Kaldahl said a new citywide policy should make it clear that when a community improvement district is in place, the expectation is that more sales are generated within the defined district.
- Councilmember Chris Evans Hands noted that when Prairie Village approved a community improvement district for Corinth Square to fund a facelift there, it helped make that shopping center more vibrant.
Next steps:
- Engel told the Post via email that once a community improvement district policy is drafted, city staff will take it back to the city council for comments and possible approval.
- Watch the city’s entire community improvement district conversation online here.
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